The Army says it has completed the Morag corridor as it threatens to expand its operations to “the majority of Gaza territory.”
Israeli forces said they have completed construction of what is called the Morag Corridor, which will block Rafa city from other parts of Gaza, as they expanded their attacks on the southern part of the Strip.
An Arabic spokesman for the Israeli Army issued new forced evacuation orders on Saturday to several nearby Khan Eunice, warning of an imminent attack “with great force” in response to suspicions of Hamas Rockets fired in Israel from the area.
Residents of the southern neighbours of Qizan An-Najjar, Qizan Abu Rashwan, Al-Salam, Al-Manara, Al-Qurain, Maen, Al-Batn al-Lot, Al-Fakhari, and Bani Suheila were ordered to leave their homes and proceed to the coast of Almawasi, Gaza.
The announcement came amidst the bombardment of drone attacks and artillery fires at Khan Younis, which killed at least two people.
Israeli Defense Minister Katz added that the Morag corridor would effectively turn Rafa into an “Israel security zone” and that the Netzarim corridor would also expand, which divides the strip into two.
In a statement, Katz said in a statement that refers to President Trump’s plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza, and is recognized as a “willful passage” given to Palestinians who wish to escape from Gaza.
Katz said it offers Gaza’s besieged population “a last chance to expel Hamas and free all hostages and stop the war.” Otherwise, Israeli operations would spread to “a large portion of Gaza’s territory.”
Hamas has issued a statement accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of extending the war despite repeated calls from within Israeli society to halt the conflict. “The equation is clear: the release of prisoners in exchange for a halt of war. The world accepts it, but Netanyahu rejects it,” it said.
“The blood of Gaza children and the prisoners of occupation are victims of Netanyahu’s ambitions to maintain power and escape prosecution.”
Reporting from the Jordanian capital, Amman, Noor Ode of Al Jazeera, said Israeli Defense Minister gave Palestinians an ultimatum. “The only way to defeat Hamas, rescue Israeli prisoners, and end the war,” Ode said.
Currently, around 2.1 million Palestinians have been narrowed down to about a third of Gaza, and trucks carrying aid, food, cooking gas or fuel have not been in the strip since Israel reimposed the lockdown last month. Katz publicly said that since violating the ceasefire with Hamas on March 18, Israel’s goal is to put pressure on civilians.
Robert Geist Pinfold, an international security lecturer at King’s College London, said Israel was purely operating and intended to constrain Hamas, but was part of the long-term Israeli strategy to control Gaza from Afar, told Al Jazeera.
“Israel has always been trying to control the Gaza Strip, especially to oversee what comes out and ‘security’, as Israel calls it,” he said.
“these [Morag, Netzarim and Philadelphi] The corridors were named after the settlement, and the settlements did not appear there randomly. They were placed there for this particular purpose. It is to cut off the urban areas of Gaza and give Israel the ability to narrow its territory when it wants. ”
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