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The IDF has been expanding its construction of defensive fortifications, outposts and communication towers in Gaza, the New York Times reported on Monday. Satellite images and Israeli officials confirmed the report.
The newspaper said the military has demolished over 600 buildings around the Netzarim Corridor in the past three months, "in an apparent attempt to create a buffer zone."
The newspaper said the corridor has slowly grown into an 18-square-mile (46.6 square-kilometer) block of territory controlled by troops, according to the IDF and a New York Times analysis of satellite images and video footage.
In the report, the paper said that control of the Netzarim Corridor, which cuts across Gaza from the border with Israel to the Mediterranean Sea, allows the IDF to "regulate" the movement of Palestinians, keeping hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans at the south of the Strip.
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IDF forces strike Hamas terrorists in Gaza
(Video: IDF)
Analysis of the satellite images, according to the report, reveals that the IDF has at least 19 large bases throughout the area and dozens of small ones. "While some were built earlier in the war, the imagery also shows that the pace of construction appears to be accelerating: Twelve of the bases were either built or expanded since early September."
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Israel's expanding military hold on Gaza comes as negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal appear to be resuming after reports that Hamas is now willing to show some flexibility in its demands for an immediate and total withdrawal of troops.
After the cease-fire agreement in Lebanon left Hamas to face the full force of the IDF on its own, officials in Israel and in Egypt have found reason for some optimism that the terror group would be more willing to make a deal.