Israel controls over 1,000 km² of Gaza, Lebanon, and Syrian territory since October 7, 2023
Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
An Al Jazeera investigation reveals that the Israeli military directly controls approximately 1,000 km² across the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon, and southern Syria since October 7, 2023, exceeding official ceasefire map boundaries. In Gaza, the 'Golden Line' covers about 53% of the Strip, but ground markers show expansion beyond this line. In southern Lebanon, about 570 km² is under control, with satellite imagery showing destruction outside declared zones. In southern Syria, despite no official map, military positions form a 235 km² control zone, with over 800 documented incursions.
Since October 7, 2023, maps of Israeli military control in the surrounding region have been more than just border lines published in official statements or drawn on military maps. After each ceasefire agreement, a new map appears, and after each map, questions about the ground reality arise: Where are the forces actually stationed? Do field markers, demolition activities, and military positions match what was officially declared on paper?
Al Jazeera's Digital Investigation team tracked three areas where new boundaries of Israeli military presence have emerged: the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon, and southern Syria. The investigation combines official maps published by the Israeli military, satellite imagery taken after ceasefire agreements, spatial calculations using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).
Gaza: When the 'Golden Line' fails to depict reality
In Gaza, the story begins with a boundary drawn by the Israeli military on a map after the 'ceasefire' agreement signed on October 10, 2025. Dubbed the 'Golden Line,' it was presented as the dividing line between Israeli-controlled military zones inside Gaza, covering an estimated 200 km², according to the Israeli map.
However, when the Al Jazeera team traced the ground reality, a gap emerged between what was published on the map and what satellite imagery and field data revealed. Analysis shows that the yellow concrete blocks placed on the ground did not always stop at the official military line; they extended beyond it in some areas, sometimes by hundreds of meters.
On November 20, 2025, the Government Media Office in Gaza reported that Israeli forces had advanced into eastern neighborhoods of Gaza City and moved the yellow markers westward, expanding the control zone by about 300 meters, coinciding with the displacement of Palestinian families from the Shujayea and Tuffah neighborhoods. According to the October 2025 agreement map, the 'Golden Line' covers about 53% of Gaza's total area. However, this percentage is higher in certain areas, particularly northern Gaza and Gaza City, where Israeli-controlled territory increased from 67.3 km² to 73.9 km², equivalent to 54.7% of the total area—a rise of 4.7%.
Southern Lebanon: Satellite imagery tests the declared boundary
The pattern seen in Gaza repeats in southern Lebanon, but over a larger area. According to an official map published by the Israeli military after the ceasefire agreement signed on April 17, 2026, the territory under Israeli military control in southern Lebanon amounts to approximately 570 km². This figure accounts for more than half of the total land seized after October 7, 2023, across Gaza, Syria, and southern Lebanon.
Analysis of satellite imagery from April 24 to May 19, 2026, shows that demolition activities were not limited to the 'Golden Line' announced by the Israeli military; destruction traces appeared in several towns outside this boundary. One example is the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, where imagery from April 24, 2026, shows the town before demolition, while imagery from May 19, 2026, reveals the aftermath of destruction.
Southern Syria: A map with no official declaration
In southern Syria, there is no official Israeli map defining a 'Golden Line' or clear military control zone, making verification more complex. The investigation did not rely on reading previously published Israeli boundaries, but on independent geographic work tracing what actually formed on the ground.
This revealed a network of fixed Israeli military positions established outside the 'Alpha Line,' which separates the occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syrian territory under the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Analyzing these positions, they interconnect to form a military strip stretching from Mount Jabal al-Sheikh in the north to the Yarmouk River near the Jordanian border in the south.
By drawing a circle around these military positions and the areas they effectively control, the investigation estimates the land under Israeli military control in southern Syria at approximately 235 km². This figure does not represent official boundaries, but an estimate of the actual control zone reflected by permanent military infrastructure.
Based on data from the ACLED project, Al Jazeera created a map documenting more than 800 incursions by Israeli forces outside the buffer zone and deep into Syrian territory from December 8, 2024, to January 16, 2026. The temporal and geographic distribution of these incursions indicates that Israel's military footprint in southern Syria is not static or limited to fixed sites, but changes frequently within a wider range. The investigation recorded an incursion as deep as approximately 63 km into Syrian territory, near Horsh al-Jubailiya in the Deraa countryside, in April 2025.
The overall picture
The investigation estimates the total area under Israeli military control at approximately 1,000 km², distributed across three main regions after October 7, 2023: the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon, and southern Syria. The 1,000 km² figure is not based on a single source; in Gaza and southern Lebanon, it is calculated using boundaries published by the Israeli military itself, while in southern Syria, it is based on an independent geographic estimate of the areas of actual military influence, due to the absence of similar Israeli maps.
