Israel cuts off Rafah, issues new forced displacement orders for Gaza

The Israeli military has said it completed the construction of what it calls the Morag Corridor, which cuts off the city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, as it expanded its attacks on the southern part of the Strip.

The Israeli army’s Arabic language spokesperson on Saturday issued new forced displacement orders for several neighbourhoods in Khan Younis, warning of an imminent attack “with great force” in response to alleged Hamas rockets fired at Israel from this area.Residents in Qizan an-Najjar, Qizan Abu Rashwan, al-Salam, al-Manara, al-Qurain, Maen, al-Batn al-Sameen, Jurt al-Lot, al-Fakhari and the southern neighbourhoods of Bani Suheila were ordered to leave their homes and proceed to al-Mawasi, on Gaza’s sea coast.

The announcement came amid a barrage of drone attacks and artillery shelling on Khan Younis that killed at least two people.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said the Morag Corridor effectively turned Rafah into an “Israeli security zone” and added that the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the Strip in two, would also be expanded.About 2.1 million Palestinians are now squeezed into about one-third of Gaza and no trucks carrying aid, food, cooking gas, or fuel have entered the Strip since Israel reimposed a blockade last month. Katz has publicly stated that, since breaking the ceasefire with Hamas on March 18, Israel’s goal has been to apply pressure on the civilian population, the correspondent added.

Robert Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that while Israel says the creation of the Morag Corridor is purely operational and meant to constrain Hamas, it appears to be part of a longer-term Israeli strategy to control Gaza from afar.