Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel is establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas, suggesting it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel has ordered evacuated, from the rest of the Palestinian territory.
The announcement came after Netanyahu’s defense minister said Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and add them to its so-called security zones. A wave of Israeli strikes, meanwhile, killed more than 40 Palestinians, nearly half of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel has vowed to escalate the nearly 18-month war with Hamas until: 1. the militant group returns dozens of remaining hostages, 2. disarms and leaves the territory — when Pigs fly...
Israel ended a ceasefire [expired] in March and has imposed a month long halt on all imports of food, fuel and humanitarian aid.
Netanyahu described the new axis as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities.
He said it would be “a second Philadelphi corridor " referring to the Gaza side of the border with Egypt further south, which has been under Israeli control since last May.
Israel has reasserted control over the Netzarim corridor, also named for a former settlement, that cuts off the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, from the rest of the narrow coastal strip.
Both of the existing corridors run from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.
Israel has expanded its aerial and ground attacks in Gaza since ending the ceasefire last month. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Wednesday it intends to “divide up” the territory.
IDF chief vows that ‘the only thing that can stop us from advancing is the release of our hostages,’ True as troops launch new offensive, accompanied by heavy airstrikes
