The Israeli Army (IDF) has completed its siege of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, taking control of an area called the Morag Axis, which separates Rafah from Khan Younis
On Saturday, the Israeli army announced that it had completed its siege of Rafah as part of a plan to control more areas of the Gaza Strip.
This plan includes a large-scale evacuation of the local population.
Since military operations resumed on March 18, the IDF has repeatedly called on hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to leave Rafah, forcing them into ever-shrinking spaces bounded by the sea.
On April 2, Israel said its troops had begun occupying the Morag Axis, an area that was once home to an Israeli settlement between Rafah and Khan Younis.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have fled Rafah, a 60-square-kilometer area that borders Egypt to the south.
In the past 24 hours, according to the army, soldiers from the 36th Division have completed the creation of the Morag corridor, completely separating Rafah from Khan Younis.
Following this achievement, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told Gazans: “This is the last chance to dismantle Hamas, free all the hostages and end the war.” He also said that the army will intensify its operations in much of Gaza and that some people may voluntarily migrate to other countries, following an idea that is being discussed with the United States government.
Why is this happening”
Israel’s offensive in Gaza began after an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
In March, Israel resumed the offensive, after abandoning a ceasefire that had been in place since January.
The country says the military campaign will only stop once the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Hamas is eliminated from Gaza.
Hamas, on the other hand, says it will only release the hostages if there is an agreement to end the war and rejects demands that it hand over its weapons.
Hamas officials were expected in Cairo, Egypt, over the weekend to discuss new truce proposals, according to a Hamas source.
Published in 04/12/2025 14h38
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
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