A line that Palestinians say can be invisible

CAIRO (AP) — A dividing line in Gaza, described as “yellow” and tied to a temporary ceasefire buffer, can mean life or death for Palestinians sheltering near it, the Associated Press reported.

In the reporting, Palestinians and hospital staff described living in fear of Israeli soldiers directing near-daily fire at people who cross or even linger close to the line, sometimes because the markers are not visible or do not match what they say was agreed in the ceasefire arrangement.

Deaths near the “yellow line”

The AP reported that of 447 Palestinians killed between the ceasefire taking effect and Tuesday, at least 77 were killed by Israeli gunfire near the yellow line, including 62 people who crossed it, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The AP said teenagers and young children were among those killed near the line.

It said that while Israel placed some yellow barrels and concrete barriers, the line remains unmarked in some areas. In others, the AP reported, Palestinians and mapping experts said the line was laid nearly half a kilometer deeper than what was agreed to in the ceasefire deal, expanding the part of Gaza Israel controls.

Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Jahal told the AP: “We stay away from the barrels. No one dares to get close.” He said the markers are less than 100 meters (110 yards) from his house, rather than the roughly 500 meters (546 yards) shown on a map put out by the Israeli military.

Israeli military says it marks the boundary and fires after warnings

The AP reported that as of Tuesday the Israeli military acknowledged killing 57 people around the yellow line and said most were militants. It said the military argued its troops are complying with the rules of engagement to counter militant groups, and that it has been informing Palestinians of the line’s location and marking it on the ground “to ‘reduce friction and prevent misunderstandings.’”

The AP also reported that an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said troops issue audible warnings and then fire warning shots whenever someone crosses the line. The official acknowledged that many civilians retreat after warning shots are fired, while “some have been killed.”

A buffer that squeezes civilians into a strip

Under the ceasefire, Israel withdrew troops to a buffer zone up to 7 kilometers (4 miles) deep that includes most of Gaza’s arable land, its elevated points and all of its border crossings, the AP said. The arrangement, it reported, hems more than 2 million Palestinians into a strip along the coastline and central Gaza.

The AP reported that hospital director Fadel Naeem said people of all ages—some already dead—were arriving almost daily at the emergency room of Gaza City’s Al-Ahli hospital with bullet wounds from straying near the line. Naeem told the AP that the demarcation line often isn’t easy to detect, saying he did not notice he was almost across the line during a visit to Khan Younis until locals shouted at him to turn back.

Children and teenagers described as victims near the boundary

The AP described individual cases near the line. It reported that Zaher Shamia, 17, lived in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp in a tent about 300 meters (330 yards) from the line. The AP said that on Dec. 10 Shamia was playing with relatives and friends near the line, according to video he took before his death, when soldiers approaching the line with an armored bulldozer fired on the teens, hitting Zaher.

The AP reported that Zaher’s body was later found by his grandfather, Kamal al-Beih, who said: “We only recognized him from his head.”

It said doctors Mohamed Abu Selmiya and Rami Mhanna confirmed that Shamia had been killed by gunshots and then run over by a bulldozer. The AP reported that a military official said he was aware Shamia was a civilian and that the military was looking into it. The AP also reported that a military official denied the killing.

The AP reported another case involving Maram Atta. It said Atta told AP that on Dec. 7 her 3-year-old daughter, Ahed al-Bayouk, was playing with siblings outside their tent near the yellow line along Gaza’s southern coast when shots were fired and a stray projectile struck the child, who was dead before they reached a clinic.

Atta told the AP, crying: “I lost my daughter to what they keep calling a ‘ceasefire’” and asked: “What ceasefire are they talking about?”

Maps, geolocation and the dispute over the line’s exact location

The AP reported that the line’s exact location is ambiguous, saying it differed on maps put out by the Israeli military and the White House. It said neither map matches what troops appear to be marking on the ground, according to Palestinians and geolocation specialists.

Chris Osiek, an open source intelligence analyst and consultant, told the AP that he geolocated yellow blocks based on social media videos and found at least four urban areas where troops set the blocks several hundred meters deeper than the Israeli military map-specified yellow line.

The AP reported that Osiek said: “This is basically what you get when you simply let Trump make an image and post it on Truth Social and let the IDF make their own,” using the acronym for the military. He also told the AP: “If it’s not a proper system, with coordinates that make it easy for people to navigate where it is, then you leave the ambiguity free for the IDF to interpret the yellow line how they basically want.”

The AP reported that the military official dismissed the criticism, saying deviations from the map amount to just a few meters.

“A new border line” and continuing demolition inside the zone

Under the ceasefire, the AP reported, Israeli forces were only supposed to remain at the yellow line until a fuller withdrawal, but the agreement does not set a timeline for next steps. The AP said Palestinians worry the situation could be a permanent land takeover as troops dig into positions on the Israeli side and continue leveling buildings inside the Israeli-held zone.

The AP reported that the defense minister described the yellow line in December as “a new border line — serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity.”

It also reported that Israel’s military has continued leveling buildings inside the Israeli-held zone after the ceasefire, and said demolitions are necessary to destroy tunnels and prepare the area for reconstruction. The AP said almost all of the city of Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, has been razed over the past year.

The AP reported that demolitions since the ceasefire encroached beyond the official yellow line in some places, citing Oct. 14 and Dec. 18 satellite photos provided by Planet Labs showing a swath of Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood extending about 300 meters (330 yards) outside the Israeli-held zone.

Residents say the line is closing in

The AP reported that Abu Jahal moved back to his damaged house in Tuffah at the ceasefire’s start and said he frequently saw new yellow barrels appear and the military forcing out anyone living on its side of the markers.

It said that on Jan. 7 Israeli fire hit a house near him and residents had to evacuate. Abu Jahal told the AP that his family, including his wife, their child and seven other relatives, may also have to leave soon.

Abu Jahal told the AP: “The line is getting very close.”