Israel Expands Control in Gaza as Shujayea Residents Are Displaced Again

Shujayea, Gaza – Mahmoud Harzeen is pitching a tent about 200 meters from the yellow concrete blocks that mark Israel's so-called Yellow Line. It is the sixth time he has had to move.

Each time this boundary creeps closer, the 35-year-old gathers his belongings and retreats further, trying to keep his family out of danger. But every move brings only temporary calm.

"Every time they advance a little, we fall back a little," Harzeen told Al Jazeera.

Under the October 2025 "ceasefire" agreement, the Yellow Line divides Gaza's territory between the area controlled by Israel and the area controlled by the Palestinians. Israeli forces withdrew behind this boundary, but later continued to push the dividing line deeper into Gaza. According to the United Nations, Israel now controls about 65 percent of Gaza, up from the 53 percent agreed a year ago.

On October 11, Israeli forces moved the yellow concrete blocks dozens of meters west in Shujayea, an area east of Gaza City. More parts of the neighborhood were placed under Israeli military control and Palestinian families were forced to flee once again, as the constantly shifting boundary further narrows the space where they can live and move.

For Harzeen, who supports a family of 10, the latest displacement is part of a year-long search for somewhere to settle. He cannot recall the dates of each move, only the names of the places that followed one another: Zeitoun, Sahat al-Shawa, al-Muntazah.

"About six times – every time the boundary advanced a little – I felt it was dangerous, so I fell back a little and tried to live there for a while," he explained.

His most recent move lasted only a single night. After pitching the tent, he slept in it once before Israeli forces pushed the Yellow Line forward again, so close that he could no longer feel safe.

"I put up the tent and slept in it one night," he said. "The next morning, we packed up the blankets and our things and left."

The threat does not come only from the movement of the concrete blocks. Harzeen described life among drones, helicopters, the sound of artillery and stray bullets, with flying metal always a danger to those sheltering nearby. According to him, the nights when the boundary advances are especially terrifying, as tanks, infantry and intense shelling appear at the same time as the concrete blocks are moved.

Israel has continued its attacks despite the "ceasefire" agreement, killing nearly 1,500 Palestinians over the past year. Since the war began in October 2023, Israel has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians.

"The night they moved the boundary, tanks and infantry came down, artillery was fired," he said. "All of that just so they could push the yellow block forward a little."

Most people in Gaza have been displaced multiple times by the war and the large-scale destruction of buildings across the strip. That has left little space to pitch tents in safer areas, while rents have soared beyond what Harzeen can afford.

He is now preparing for the possibility of having to move again. "Maybe they will push it forward again," he said. "Every time we have to flee, we end up closer to it. We just keep having to move."

Fleeing at night, returning in the morning

For Asma Ali, 32, the advance of the Yellow Line has turned life in displacement into a loop: fleeing at night and returning in the morning, never knowing how long her family can stay in one place.

Ali, a mother of three from Shujayea, said her family has been displaced seven or eight times since the ceasefire began. After staying in central Gaza City, they returned to Shujayea hoping to settle in the al-Mantar area. But a month later, new shelling and the fear of evacuation forced them to move again.

The family had sheltered at a school before moving to a house near a bus station. After a night of intense shelling, they left at dawn and stayed with relatives in central Gaza City. But the advance of the Yellow Line has left Ali unsure where her family can go next.

"Every night we flee, and the next morning we come back," Ali said. "You spend the whole night looking for a place to stay, then return the next morning."

"The night the Yellow Line advances is terrifying," she said. "The gunfire lasts from the start of the night until dawn. You live in fear."

Ali said her family lost everything – including gold, household items and her children's clothes – when the place where they were sheltering was destroyed. Among the lost items was a brace for her disabled son. She had it for only two days.

"It disappeared in an instant," she said.

Her family is trying to find a safe place to stay, but Ali said there is nowhere they can afford. Moving south is also difficult, with vehicles scarce and no guarantee they would find safety there.

Asma's request is simple: a place where her children can sleep without the family having to flee again.

"The most important thing is a safe place for us," she said. "A place where I can put my children down, where we can rest and be stable."