SUNDAY April 6, 2025 |
By thenewsdesk.ng
The Israeli military has announced the deployment of troops to a newly established security corridor across southern Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested the corridor, announced on Wednesday as the “Morag Corridor”, would cut off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza.
According to EuroNews, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is set to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, April 7, 2025, said “we are cutting up the strip, and we are increasing the pressure step by step, so that they will give us our hostages.”
His defence minister has said Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and add them to its so-called security zones.
A military statement said troops with the 36th Division had been deployed. It was not immediately clear how many, or where exactly the new corridor was located. Morag is the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, and Netanyahu had suggested it would run between the cities.
Maps published by Israeli media showed the corridor running the width of the narrow coastal strip from east to west.
Israel has also reasserted control over the northern Netzarim corridor since shattering the ceasefire last month with a surprise bombardment to pressure Hamas to accept new terms for the truce, which has killed hundreds.
Israel has pledged to escalate the fighting with Hamas until the militant group returns the remaining hostages it has held since October 2023, disarms and leaves the territory. It has also halted all supplies of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza in order to apply additional pressure.
Hamas says it will only release the hostages in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while it rejects any demands that it lay down its arms and leave the enclave.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, largely civilians. 251 hostages were taken, most of whom have since been released as part of negotiations between the two parties. 59 hostages remain, 24 of whom are thought to be alive.
Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza say more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. Their figures do not distinguish between civilians and Hamas militants.
