DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Israel is setting up a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip in an effort to exert more pressure on Hamas. The move, he suggested, would cut off the southern city of Rafah—where Israel has ordered mass evacuations—from the rest of the Palestinian territory.
The announcement follows a statement from Israel’s Defense Minister that the country plans to seize large areas of Gaza and integrate them into its existing security zones. Meanwhile, a series of Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 40 Palestinians, nearly half of whom were women and children, according to Palestinian health officials.
Netanyahu described the planned route as the Morag corridor, named after a former Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis. He indicated that it would serve as a “second Philadelphi corridor,” referring to the strategic strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border, which Israel has controlled since May.
Israel has already reasserted control over another key pathway—the Netzarim corridor, also named after a former settlement—cutting off the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, from the rest of the coastal enclave. Both corridors extend from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.
“We are cutting up the strip, and we are increasing the pressure step by step, so that they will give us our hostages,” Netanyahu said.
Israel has pledged to continue its military offensive against Hamas until the militant group releases the remaining hostages, disarms, and withdraws from the territory. The war, which has lasted nearly 18 months, saw an escalation in March when Israel ended a ceasefire and imposed a blockade on imports of food, fuel, and humanitarian aid.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the occupied West Bank and is a political rival to Hamas, strongly opposed Israel’s planned corridor. In a statement, the PA expressed its “complete rejection” of the move and simultaneously urged Hamas to relinquish control of Gaza.
Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, has recently faced rare public protests from residents amid worsening humanitarian conditions.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike targeted a U.N. facility in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp, killing 15 people, including nine children and two women, according to the Indonesian Hospital. The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted Hamas militants operating from a command and control center.
The building, previously a medical clinic, had been converted into a shelter for displaced families, with over 700 people residing there, according to Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). She confirmed that no U.N. staff were injured in the attack.
Touma added that while U.N. staff warned residents about the risks of staying in the facility, many chose to remain. “Simply because they have absolutely nowhere else to go,” she said.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
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- Venus L Peñaflorhttps://tutubi.ph/author/venusp/
- Venus L Peñaflorhttps://tutubi.ph/author/venusp/
- Venus L Peñaflorhttps://tutubi.ph/author/venusp/
