CAIRO (AP) — A sometimes invisible demarcation line can mean life or death for Palestinians in Gaza.
Those sheltering near the “yellow line” of territory to which the Israeli army withdrew as part of an October ceasefire say they live in fear, as Israeli soldiers open fire almost daily on anyone who crosses it or even lingers near it.
Of the 447 Palestinians killed between the ceasefire and Tuesday, at least 77 were killed by Israeli gunfire near the line, including 62 who crossed it, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Among them are teenagers and young children, the Associated Press found.
And although the army has placed some yellow barrels and concrete barriers demarcating the boundaries of the Palestinian area, the line is still unmarked in some places and in others has been set nearly half a kilometer (0.3 miles) deeper than what was agreed in the cease-fire agreement, expanding the part of Gaza that Israel controls, according to Palestinians and mapping experts.
“We stay away from the barrels. No one dares to come close,” said Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Jahal, noting that the markings are less than 100 meters (110 yards) from his home – instead of the roughly 500 meters (546 yards) outlined on a map released by the Israeli military.
As of Tuesday, the military acknowledged killing 57 people around the yellow line, saying most were militants. She said her troops follow rules of engagement to counter militant groups and inform Palestinians of the location of the line and mark it on the ground to “reduce friction and prevent misunderstandings.”
Easy to lose
During the ceasefire, Israel withdrew its troops to a buffer zone that is up to 7 kilometers (4 miles) deep and includes most of Gaza’s arable land, its high points and all of its border crossings. This pushes more than 2 million Palestinians into a strip along the coast and into central Gaza.
People of all ages, some already dead, showed up almost daily at the emergency room of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City with bullet wounds caused by wandering near the line, hospital director Fadel Naeem said.
Amid the vast destruction in Gaza, the demarcation line is often not easy to detect, Naeem said. He recounted making his way along undamaged paths during a recent visit to the southern city of Khan Younis. He didn’t realize he was almost over the line until locals yelled at him to turn around, he said.
The Israeli military said most of the people it killed crossing the line posed a threat to its troops. According to a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with military rules, troops sound warnings and then fire warning shots whenever someone crosses the line. Many civilians retreat when warning shots are fired, although some have been killed, the official acknowledged.
Killed while playing near the line
Zaher Shamia, 17, lived with his grandfather in a tent 300 yards (330 meters) from the line in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. On Dec. 10, he was playing with his cousin and some friends near the line, according to the video he shot before his death.
Suddenly, shots rang out and the video stopped. Soldiers approaching the line with an armored bulldozer had fired on the teenagers, hitting Zaher, a witness said.
A neighbor eventually found Zaher’s body, which had been crushed by the bulldozer, Zaher’s grandfather Kamal al-Beih said: “I only recognized him by his head.”
Two doctors, Mohamed Abu Selmiya and Rami Mhanna, confirmed that the teenager was killed by gunfire and then hit by a bulldozer. The military official said he knew Shamia was a civilian and the military was looking into it.
Maram Atta said that on December 7, her 3-year-old daughter, Ahed al-Bayouk, was playing with her siblings outside their tent, which was near the yellow line along Gaza’s southern coast. Atta was preparing lentils when he heard planes overhead, then gunshots.
A stray projectile whizzed close to her and struck Ahed, who was dead before reaching the clinic.
“I lost my daughter because of what they keep calling ‘ceasefire,'” Atta said, crying. “What ceasefire are they talking about?”
A military official denied the killing.
Deadly ambiguity
The exact location of the line is ambiguous, differing on maps published by the Israeli military and the White House.
None of them match the line troops seem to be marking on the ground, according to Palestinians and geolocation experts.
Chris Osiek, an open source intelligence analyst and consultant, geolocated a series of yellow blocks based on social media videos. He found at least four urban areas where troops had fixed the blocks several hundred meters deeper into Gaza than the yellow line specified by the military map.
“This is basically what you get when you just let Trump take a picture and post it on Truth Social and let the IDF do their own,” he said, using the acronym for the military. “If it’s not a proper system with coordinates that make it easy for people to navigate where they are, then leave the ambiguity free for the IDF to interpret the yellow line as they wish.”
The military official dismissed such criticism, saying any deviations from the map amounted to only a few meters. But for Palestinians surrounded by destruction and large-scale displacement, every few meters lost is another uninhabitable home—another they doubt will ever be returned.
“The line is getting very close”
Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces are supposed to remain at the yellow line only until a more complete withdrawal, although the agreement does not provide a time frame for that. However, with the deal’s next steps in sight and troops digging into positions on the Israeli side, Palestinians are wondering if they are witnessing a permanent land grab.
In December, Israel’s defense minister described the yellow line as “a new border line – serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity.”
The army continued to level buildings inside the Israeli-controlled area, turning already damaged neighborhoods into moonscapes. Almost all of the town of Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, has been destroyed in the past year. The military says this is necessary to destroy the tunnels and prepare the area for reconstruction.
In some places, the demolitions since the ceasefire have penetrated beyond the official yellow line. Since November, troops have leveled a portion of Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood, which extends about 300 meters (330 yards) outside the Israeli-controlled area, according to satellite photos from Oct. 14 and Dec. 18 provided by Planet Labs.
Abu Jahal moved back to his damaged home in Tuffah at the start of the ceasefire. He said he frequently saw new yellow barrels appearing and the military forcing anyone living on its side of the markers.
On Jan. 7, Israeli fire hit a house near it and residents were forced to evacuate, he said. Abu Jahal said his family – including his wife, their child and seven other relatives – may have to leave soon.
“The line is getting very close,” he said.