Senior Israeli officers told the Security Cabinet in mid-July that the IDF controls between 67 and 70 percent of Gaza. Netanyahu asked for a deployment map. [1] Thursday does not publish a new percentage. The map still holds.

The hostage-release deal had left Israeli forces on about 53 percent along the Yellow Line. After Hamas refused to disarm under Trump's 20-point plan, the army pushed past that line. [1]

The paper's Wednesday brief already treated 70 percent as terrain under an argument. NPR, from July 10, had the same nearly 70 percent, including al-Shujaiya. The U.N. counted about 200 Palestinians killed near the shifting lines since the truce. [2]

Eli Cohen said there is no deal to halt attacks and that Israel should take full control if Hamas does not disarm. [3] A 70 percent hold is the ground under that sentence. It is not a closed war. NPR said fewer than 50 families remain in al-Shujaiya of 500 at the ceasefire's start. [2] A mid-July briefing is not a Thursday survey.

That is a neighborhood emptying under a percentage, not a peace. Thursday's map is still last month's briefing. A mid-July briefing is not a Thursday survey. Seventy percent is terrain under an argument, not a closed war.

-- YOSEF STERN, Jerusalem