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The Israeli military announced Saturday it had completed the encirclement of the southern city of Rafah, unveiling a new “Morag Corridor” that severs the city from nearby Khan Younis – and tightens Israel’s grip on over half of the Palestinian territory.
Troops with Israel’s 36th Division led the operation, establishing a 75-square-kilometer security corridor named after a former Israeli settlement in Gaza.
The move follows weeks of evacuations and signals a major ground incursion may be imminent.
“This is the second Philadelphi,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, likening the Morag Corridor to the already Israeli-controlled buffer zone along the Egypt-Gaza border, known for its strategic chokehold on movement and aid.
“Activity will soon expand vigorously across most of Gaza,” warned Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. “Civilians must evacuate the fighting zones.” But no alternative safe zones were identified, leaving over a million displaced Palestinians scrambling amid ruins and overcrowded tent camps.
The corridor’s completion effectively cuts Rafah – home to nearly one-fifth of Gaza’s population – off from the rest of the territory.
Humanitarian agencies warn the squeeze could create one of the worst urban entrapments of the war.
Haaretz called the development tantamount to “the eradication of the city.”
Hamas, which has not yet responded to the latest encirclement, previously accused Netanyahu of enforcing a new “status quo” in Rafah to isolate Gaza from the Arab world.
Israel has framed the corridor’s seizure as leverage to pressure Hamas into releasing 59 hostages and to accept updated cease-fire terms.
Since the war reignited on March 18 – shattering a fragile January cease-fire – at least 1,500 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
That adds to the staggering death toll of over 50,900, the majority women and children. The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
In the last 24 hours alone, Israeli airstrikes claimed 21 more lives, as military officials announced fresh evacuations east of Khan Younis, following rocket fire into southern Israel.
The offensive, launched in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas’ incursion that left 1,200 people dead in southern Israel, has led to one of the most lopsided casualty tolls in modern conflict.
Meanwhile, Israel’s tightening grip extends beyond Rafah.
The army also controls the Netzarim Corridor, which slices off Gaza’s north from the center and south.
Together, these corridors and the expanding buffer zone now place more than 50% of the territory under direct Israeli control.
International backlash is growing.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last year for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Separately, the International Court of Justice is weighing a genocide case against Israel.
Adding fuel to the fire, Defense Minister Katz revived a controversial proposal for “voluntary relocation” of Palestinians to other countries – part of a revived Trump-era plan.
Human rights groups condemned it as “ethnic cleansing” in diplomatic disguise.
For now, Gaza’s civilians – many displaced multiple times – remain trapped in shrinking safe zones under fire, battling hunger, fear, and an uncertain future.
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