Gaza and Lebanon—same dirty tricks, ceasefire a cruel joke

[Opinion. Israel is becoming more illegitimate by any int’l measure day-by-day. If the soldiers were not there, they would not be subject to any threats! The IDF fired live ammunition at an ambulance! Israeli killing goes on and on. Everybody must be terrorists!]

Gaza’s yellow line creeps forward as Israeli forces expand zone of control

Residents waking to find line has moved overnight and they are now in free-fire zone as army takes more territory

Seham Tantesh in Gaza and Julian Borger

The Guardian: 22 Apr 2026

Israeli forces have been moving an agreed truce line in Gaza westwards over the six months since the ceasefire, expanding their zone of control [meaning free-fire zones] and making the state of limbo ever more dangerous for Palestinians.

Since then, the yellow line has crept forward in several places, expanding the army-controlled area well beyond the 53% of Gaza territory implied in the original ceasefire maps. According to the research agency Forensic Architecture, by December Israel had taken 58% of the strip and continued to edge forwards.

As these physical markers have moved westwards, so too has an unmarked zone in which any Palestinian person or vehicle is considered a threat and a legitimate target.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have defended their actions along the yellow line by arguing that their soldiers have the right to protect themselves from perceived imminent threats in a tense environment.

Of the more than 700 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire over the six months of the ceasefire, 269 were shot near the yellow line, according to UN data. Of these, more than 100 were children.

He said: “Approaching the yellow line has become extremely dangerous. Anyone who gets near it, or even looks in its direction, is pursued by quadcopter drones, shot at, or arrested and interrogated by Israeli-backed]militia groups.

“We only go out if it’s absolutely necessity now, and when we do, we go with extreme caution. We are afraid for ourselves and for our children. They no longer play in the streets.”

Israeli strike kills journalist after ongoing attacks blocked rescuers, Lebanon says

Amal Khalil had been buried in rubble after an Israeli strike that also injured another journalist, Zeinab Faraj

The Guardian: 22 Apr 2026

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed a journalist on Wednesday after rescuers were blocked from accessing the building where she was buried under rubble because of further Israeli fire, according to several witnesses.

They ran into a nearby house, which was then also targeted by an Israeli strike, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Rescuers were able to retrieve Faraj, who had a head wound, according to Elsy Moufarrej, who runs the Union of Journalists in Lebanon.

When they returned to help Khalil, a sound grenade blocked their access to the damaged building, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, a senior Lebanese military official and press advocates.

The health ministry said Israel’s military “prevented the completion of the humanitarian mission by firing a sound grenade and live ammunition at the ambulance”.

In total Israeli strikes killed five people on Wednesday, including Khalil, despite the ongoing ceasefire.

Lebanon’s prime minister Nawaf Salam said the targeting of journalists and the obstruction of relief efforts constituted “war crimes”.

“Lebanon will spare no effort in pursuing these crimes before the relevant international bodies,” he said in a post on social media.

The Israeli military said it identified two vehicles that left a military structure used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and crossed the “forward defence line”, the term Israel’s military uses to refer to the delineation of the zone of southern Lebanon that Israeli troops are occupying.

The Israeli military said it does not target journalists. In March, an Israeli airstrike killed three journalists in southern Lebanon, with the Israeli military saying it had targeted one of the reporters.

More than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched an offensive in response to Hezbollah firing missiles into Israel, according to Lebanese authorities.