By Maha Hussaini in Gaza City, occupied Palestine
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| A concrete block marking the Yellow Line drawn by the Israeli military in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, on 4 November 2025 (AFP/Bashar Taleb) |
Two months on, that distance has shrunk to roughly 200 metres.
“Before the war ended, our home was in a dangerous area, and it was difficult for us to return,” the 31-year-old Palestinian journalist told Middle East Eye.
“We waited two weeks after the ceasefire to make sure it was safe.”
Eventually, the family went back to their house near the Shujaiya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City.
Almost immediately, the sounds of war returned with them.
“From the first day we came back, we heard bombardment, demolitions and gunfire,” Hamed said.
“It would start at sunset and continue until dawn.”
At first, they assumed the explosions were far away, believing the Yellow Line was still distant.
But now, Hamed can see the yellow concrete blocks placed by Israeli forces from his window – a sight that wasn’t there just weeks ago.
Across Gaza, the temporary demarcation line has been shifting, creeping ever closer to densely populated areas and fuelling fears of renewed displacement and violence by Israel.
‘Fleeing in silence’
The Yellow Line is a military boundary that has been unilaterally imposed and marked by Israeli forces inside the Gaza Strip since the US-brokered ceasefire in October.
Designated as a no-go zone, it bars Palestinians from accessing large swathes of land to the north, south and east.
Since the ceasefire began, the line has steadily expanded westwards, swallowing neighbourhoods and now covering roughly 53 percent of the territory.
Each new advance is marked by yellow concrete blocks placed inside civilian districts.
According to Hamed, thousands of homes lie within the nearly 1 km between the line’s original position and where it stands today.
After the ceasefire, many families returned to these homes and tried to restart their lives.
“People set up generator lines and even installed the internet,” he explained.
“Then, one night, they woke to heavy gunfire and found a yellow concrete block in the middle of the street. They gathered their belongings and fled under fire in the middle of the night.”
Some families were trapped in their homes for hours due to the heavy bombing before emerging to find the boundary had already shifted.
In total, the line has moved forward by more than a kilometre during the ceasefire, forcing quiet waves of displacement that receive almost no media attention.
“There is a massive wave of displacement, and no one is covering it,” Hamed said.
“Families are fleeing in silence. During the war, people talked about our suffering, which eased the pain slightly. Now, no one is talking.
“Imagine the anguish: we thanked God our homes survived two years of genocide, and now people are losing them during the ceasefire.”
Hamed’s family home now directly faces the Yellow Line. From his window, he can see Israeli tanks and military vehicles patrolling and firing towards neighbourhoods outside the boundary.
His cousin’s wife, Samar Abu Waked, a mother of three in her 30s, was killed by a bullet to the head at the entrance of the family home – apparently fired by an Israeli soldier from the Yellow Zone, according to relatives.
“More than once, I had to crawl with my wife and children from the room overlooking the street to the inner rooms because of the heavy gunfire,”... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israels-expanding-yellow-line-swallows-gaza-districts-and-uproots-families