Netanyahu orders army to take 70% of Gaza as Trump seeks Iran peace

Donald Trump says he can control Benjamin Netanyahu. But as the US president pushes for a peace deal with Iran, Israel’s prime minister is escalating war elsewhere. On Friday, Trump said he was making his final decision on a “deal of sorts” with Tehran. He claimed Netanyahu “will do whatever I want him to do.” But Israel has just expanded its military operations in Gaza far beyond the agreed ceasefire lines. Netanyahu says he has ordered the army to seize 70% of the Gaza Strip. That would force more than 2 million Palestinians into less than one-third of the already overcrowded territory. The war has failed to destroy Hamas, its stated goal. Israel killed another Hamas military chief this week, but the group remains active. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes hit deeper into Gaza, and ground forces now attack Palestinians in a vague “undefined zone” around their positions. In Lebanon, Israel has also escalated. Analysts say Netanyahu may be trying to gain ground while he can, or to destabilize Trump’s Iran peace initiative. Nickolay Mladenov, the top diplomat for Trump’s Board of Peace, has blamed Hamas for the stalled ceasefire. Critics say that view risks a return to full-scale war. Europe has stood by as the crisis deepens. The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is growing worse.