Israel encircles Rafah, Seizes southern Gaza corridor amid mass displacement of Palestinians

Israel has surrounded Rafah and taken control of another corridor in southern Gaza as its military forcibly displaces thousands of Palestinians across the strip and seizes more territory.

Israel has surrounded Rafah and taken control of another Rafah in southern Gaza as its military forcibly displaces thousands of Palestinians across the strip and seizes more territory.

Israeli Army Radio said Friday that its forces have “completely besieged” the southern border city and are occupying the strip of land referred to by the Israeli government as the ‘Morag Axis’.

The ‘Morag Axis’ is a southern corridor between the coast and the Israeli border that Israel aims to use to take full control of Rafah and Khan Younis.

“Forces from the 36th Division and the 188th Armoured Brigade were able to take full control of the axis and surround the city of Rafah from all sides,” Israel Army Radio said.

The army is now preparing to expand its attack on Rafah with the aim of annexing the entire city into the border buffer zone, it said.

Israel’s defence minister said Wednesday that it will widen its so-called “security zones” to include Rafah.

It has issued forced displacement orders covering the entire city and its surroundings.

Since it resumed its brutal military assault on 18 March, Israel has issued 15 displacement orders and seized control of more territory, incorporating it into its “security zones”.

Two-thirds of the strip is now effectively a no-go zone for civilians, according to the UN.

Almost 400,000 people are estimated to have been displaced between 18 March and 6 April.

Siege pushing Gaza into famine: UNRWA
Gaza is being pushed into “very, very deep hunger” as food supplies dwindle after six weeks of Israel’s siege, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Saturday.

"All basic supplies are running out in Gaza," UNRWA’s communications head Juliette Touma said in a post on X.

"It means babies, children are going to bed hungry."

On 2 March Israel imposed a total siege on Gaza, preventing all goods, including food and medical supplies entering the strip.

Israel ‘purposely targeting’ women and children: Al-Haq
A UN assessment of airstrikes in Gaza provides evidence that the Israeli military is “purposely targeting women and children”, Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq said Friday.

Analysis published by the UN Human Rights Office on Friday showed that 36 Israeli strikes conducted since the collapse of the ceasefire on 18 March killed only women and children.

“Such a calculated effort to exterminate women, boys, girls and even infants has not been witnessed in any other modern conflict,” Al-Haq wrote in a post on X.

The UN report recorded 224 Israeli airstrikes on residential buildings and tents for internally displaced people between 18 March and 9 April.

“Overall, a large percentage of fatalities are children and women,” it said.