JERUSALEM, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces has constructed an earthen barrier exceeding 23 km across the Gaza Strip, according to satellite images from Planet Labs PBC and reviewed by media.
The images show that the structure runs along sections of the so-called "Yellow Line", the Israeli military's withdrawal line from the first phase of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire, extending 1.5 to 6.5 km inward from Gaza's eastern border.
The barrier, constructed over the past several months, traverses war-damaged areas and now "extends across more than half the length of the Gaza Strip." In the last two weeks alone, over two km of new construction were added in the south, U.S. media reports said.
Israeli news outlet Ynet noted that the barrier's scale and direction have raised concerns that the "Yellow Line" could eventually become a permanent de facto border, effectively separating Israeli-controlled zones from densely populated Palestinian areas. ■
