Without any public announcement, the IDF has been building a large sand-wall barrier separating the 50-70% of the Gaza Strip it controls from the areas controlled by Hamas, the military confirmed on Tuesday.
Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC observed the topographical changes using satellite imagery and provided them to the Associated Press, which was the first outlet to break the news.
According to the satellite imagery, more than 23 kilometers were built in recent months, running throughout the Strip, often through areas where Palestinian communities once stood but have long since been demolished by the IDF.
Such an extensive sand wall would be equal to over half the length of Gaza, which is around 40 km. long and 11 km. wide (at its widest point).
It was unclear whether the IDF’s goal was to finish the wall across the entire Strip and whether it seeks to hem Hamas and over two million Palestinians to around 30% of the territory where they currently reside, or closer to the 47% Hamas retained from the October 2025 ceasefire.
The IDF specifically declined to elaborate to The Jerusalem Post on the size, details, or more specific goals of the new construction.
In recent months, the IDF has, gradually and without any real battles, pushed Hamas back from the 47% line closer to a 30% line in retaliation for the Gaza terror group failing to start the disarmament process which it was due to begin in early 2026.
In contrast, Hamas has said it is only obligated to begin a partial disarmament process once Israel allows at least partial rebuilding of Gaza.
To date, the Board of Peace, which is supposed to manage the negotiations under the October 2025 ceasefire, has mostly taken Israel’s side regarding the dispute, but has also loudly opposed, along with US President Donald Trump, who towers above the board, any Israeli desire to launch a new major invasion of the Hamas-controlled areas of the Strip.
Neither CENTCOM, which is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire, nor the Board of Peace responded to AP inquiries about the barrier.
IDF: New Gaza boundary a 'no-go point'
The IDF told the Post that the new boundary was designed to make the no-go point for Palestinians clear to those residing in Hamas-controlled areas as well as to prevent any attempt by the terror group to infiltrate Israeli border towns, which still remain only a few kilometers away at points.
One of the features of Hamas’s successful October 7, 2023 invasion of southern Israel was an ability to infiltrate Israeli border villages in a period of minutes due to their proximity to Gazan territory.
According to Planet Labs PBC, a portion of the sand-wall network in southern Gaza was extended by more than 2 km. between July 1 and July 15.
Previously, the southern Gaza network had extended around 500 meters long, but it then increased to about 2.4 km., cutting through the ruins of the deep southern Gaza city of Rafah, from the al-Mawasi coastal refugee camps.
The AP report said that if construction continued in its current direction, it would join up with the longest stretch of the barrier, which runs nearly unbroken for around 17 km. from the mid-southern city of Khan Yunis to near Gaza City, in the north
Despite Palestinian and international concerns about Israel potentially moving for a longer-term land grab, the IDF has been compelled to withdraw multiple times from large portions of Gaza during the war, even after building large new bases, such as withdrawing from the Morag Corridor in early 2025.