Israel plans new corridor to break up southern Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel's ground war has 'shifted gears'

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced Israel will create another corridor across Gaza's south as it laid out plans to seize more of the enclave's territory, a month after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended.

The Israeli leader said the military operation in Gaza had “shifted gears” and is now “seizing territory”, including a new route he called the Morag corridor, thought to be named after a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis.

“We are now cutting off the strip and we are increasing the pressure step by step, so that [Hamas] will give us our hostages,” Mr Netanyahu added. “And the more they do not give, the more the pressure will increase until they do.”

It came shortly after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced a major expansion of the military operation in Gaza on Wednesday, warning that “large areas” of the enclave will be taken and added to Israel's security zones.

Mr Katz said there would be large-scale evictions of people from areas where fighting was taking place, and urged Gazans to eliminate Hamas and return Israeli hostages as the only way to end the war.

The expanded operation would “seize large areas that will be incorporated into Israeli security zones”, he said, without making clear how much land his country intends to take.

“Operation Strength and Sword in Gaza is expanding to crush and cleanse the area of terrorists and terror infrastructure, and to seize large areas that will be added to Israel’s security zones – I call on the residents of Gaza to act now to remove Hamas and return all the hostages,” Mr Katz was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post.

Palestinian media reported a large wave of strikes on Rafah and Khan Younis and said Israeli troops were pushing into Rafah on Wednesday morning. The Israeli military on Monday ordered the eviction of large parts of both areas, where the army had not sent ground troops before.

Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Avichay Adraee issued a notice on Tuesday to evict Rafah residents, ordering them to leave designated areas.

At least 12 people were killed in Khan Younis on Wednesday, including women and children, in an Israeli strike on the Abdel Bari family home, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Later, an attack on a UN clinic being used as a shelter for the displaced in Gaza's north killed 19 people, including nine children. This, along with Israeli shelling across the Gaza Strip, brought Wednesday's death toll to 41 as of noon.

Israel strikes UN clinic sheltering displaced Gazans, killing 19

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Saudi Arabia condemned the attack and demanded a halt to the “Israeli war machine that has no considerations for humanitarian values and international norms and laws”.

The families of hostage taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023 said they were “horrified” by the news of Israel's Rafah offensive. “The Israeli government has an obligation to free all 59 hostages from Hamas captivity – to pursue every possible channel to advance a deal for their release,” the Hostages Families Forum said in a statement on Wednesday.

The forum said military attacks place their relatives at a “greater risk of death” at the hands of Hamas.

Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed hundreds of Palestinians in the nearly two weeks since it shattered a ceasefire that came into effect on January 19 and largely held until March 18, although it formally expired on March 1.

Efforts led by Qatari and Egyptian mediators to revive talks aimed at ending the war have failed to make much progress.

Israel has rejected Egypt's proposal for a Gaza truce, which includes the release of up to six hostages, sources told The National this week.

Mr Netanyahu wants Hamas to give up its arms and for its leaders to leave Gaza to live in exile. Hamas, which has accepted the Egyptian proposals, rejects these demands. Of the 59 captives the Israeli military believes Hamas and other militant groups are still holding, 24 are considered to be alive.