Israeli attacks hit Gaza residential building and tent for the displaced
The Israeli military attacked several targets in Gaza, killing at least 46 Palestinians in the past 24 hours. Since dawn this morning, at least nine people have been confirmed dead in Khan Younis after attacks on a residential building and a tent sheltering displaced people.
Rescuers have been searching through rubble for victims.
Israel plans to cut off Rafah from rest of Gaza by establishing ‘Morag Corridor’
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said Israeli troops between Rafah and Khan Younis are in the process of isolating Rafah from the rest of Gaza. “These troops are shooting at anyone who is getting close to the area. The only area open to Palestinians now is the al-Rashid corridor on the coastal road,” she said.
“This means more Palestinians are being squeezed into Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah as Israel tries to take over more land – and Rafah is very important because it’s the main road for the Karem Abu Salem crossing [between Gaza and Israel] – it’s the main window for Palestinians through Rafah.”
While Israel says the creation of the Morag Corridor, which cuts off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, is purely operational and meant to constrain Hamas, it’s actually part of a longer-term Israeli strategy to control Gaza from afar, says Robert Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London.
“On the one hand, it’s classic medieval siege warfare in 2025. On the other hand, I think there’s a more worrying long-term strategic logic to this. Israel has always sought to control the Gaza Strip, particularly to oversee what comes in and what comes out and ‘security’ over the territories, as Israel would call it,” he told Al Jazeera.
“But they also don’t want to rule over Palestinians or be in the heart of those urban Palestinian areas – not out of the goodness of their hearts but because they see this would be a political and security headache,” he added.
“These [Morag, Netzarim and Philadelphi] corridors are named after settlements, and the settlements did not appear there randomly. They were put there for this specific purpose: to cut off Gaza’s urban areas and give Israel the ability to squeeze the territory when and if it desires.”
Israel carrying out operation in Tal as-Sultan and Araba in Rafah
Our correspondent on the ground in the Gaza Strip says Israeli forces are pushing into the two neighbourhoods of the city. The correspondent also reported that soldiers opened fire near homes in the Shujayea suburb east of Gaza City.
Last week, Israel issued an order in Rafah for residents to leave or face attacks after it said it was expanding operations to pressure Hamas into handing over Israeli captives.
