Germany Voices Concern Over Israeli Plan to Expand Gaza Control

The German government expressed concern over Israeli plans to extend military control in Gaza. A spokesperson for the German Foreign Office said on Friday that Berlin opposes any permanent division of the enclave. The statement responded to an order by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directing the Israeli military to raise its control from 60 percent to 70 percent of Gaza.

Netanyahu said the military had already moved from 50 percent to 60 percent control and would press Hamas from all sides.

Israel agreed under an October ceasefire to withdraw behind the Yellow Line, leaving it in control of about 53 percent of Gaza. The military has since expanded its hold while continuing operations against Hamas. An increase to 70 percent control would leave Gaza's 2.3 million residents confined to roughly 35 percent of the territory.

The expansion also raises questions about the durability of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that required Israeli forces to pull back to roughly half the enclave.

More than 50 percent of hospitals in Gaza are non-functional and nearly all schools have been destroyed or damaged, according to a joint United Nations and European Union report published last month. The report estimated more than $70 billion would be required over the next decade for recovery and reconstruction.

On Friday, Israel said it had killed senior Hamas commander Imad Hassan Hussein Aslim and a colleague in a strike earlier in the week. Hamas has not commented on the report. Germany remains one of Israel's closest allies and its second-largest weapons supplier after the United States.

In recent months Berlin has criticized some Israeli actions, including annexation of territory in the occupied West Bank and implementation of the death penalty solely for Palestinians.