Gaza, MINA – The Israeli occupation military announced on Saturday that it has completed the encirclement of Rafah and finalized the establishment of the Morag Corridor, effectively cutting off the southern Gaza city from Khan Younis, Anadolu Agency reported.
“Forces of the 36th Division have completed the encirclement of Rafah,” the Israeli army said in a statement. The military added that troops had finished opening the Morag Corridor in the past 24 hours, a strategic passage that now separates the two southern cities in Gaza.
This development follows an earlier report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which revealed that the army intends to incorporate Rafah into a new buffer zone from which Palestinians will be barred. The report described the move as equivalent to “the eradication of the city.”
The proposed buffer zone, according to Haaretz, will span around 75 square kilometers, stretching from the Philadelphi Corridor to the Morag Corridor and encompassing Rafah and its surrounding areas.
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The Morag Corridor, named after a former illegal Israeli settlement dismantled in 2005, lies between Rafah and Khan Younis. On April 2, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the corridor would serve as an additional security buffer akin to the Philadelphi Corridor.
Palestinian group Hamas accused Netanyahu of attempting to isolate Gaza from the broader Arab world through these military actions. The accusation comes amid a renewed Israeli offensive on Gaza that began on March 18, breaking a ceasefire agreement initially reached in January.
Since the war began in October 2023, over 50,900 Palestinians primarily women and children have been killed, according to health authorities in Gaza. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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