Israel’s military on May 29 seized control of a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt to cut off smuggling tunnels as it tries to destroy the militant Hamas group in a war now in its eighth month.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces gained “operational control” over the “Philadelphi Corridor” (Israeli military’s code name for the 14 km-long corridor) along Gaza’s only border with Egypt.
Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said the war in Gaza would continue throughout 2024. Earlier, Israel had said the fighting would not end until all Hamas infrastructures were “dismantled” and rejected an offer that all hostages would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
The border with Egypt along the southern edge was the Gaza Strip’s only land border that Israel had not controlled directly. “The fighting in Rafah is not a pointless war,” Hanegbi said, reiterating that Israel aimed to end Hamas rule in Gaza and stop it and its allies from attacking Israel.
The army has said from the start the “war will be long,” he said. “They have designated 2024 as a year of war.”
Israeli tanks moved into the heart of Rafah for the first time on May 28 despite an order from the International Court of Justice to end its attacks on the city, where many Palestinians had taken refuge from bombardment elsewhere.
The World Court said Israel had not explained how it would keep evacuees from Rafah safe and provide food, water and medicine. Its ruling also called on Hamas to release hostages taken from Israel on October 7 immediately and unconditionally.
Rafah residents said Israeli tanks had pushed into Tel Al-Sultan in the west and Yibna and near Shaboura in the centre before retreating towards a buffer zone on the border with Egypt, rather than staying put as they have in other offensives, Reuters reported.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel needed to craft a post-war plan for Gaza or risk lawlessness, chaos and a Hamas comeback in the enclave.
The US, Israel’s closest ally, reiterated its opposition to a major ground offensive in Rafah on May 28 while saying it did not believe such an operation was underway.
Hamas has had free rein of the border since its 2007 takeover of Gaza.
Smuggling tunnels were dug under the Gaza-Egypt border to get around the Israeli-Egyptian blockade, imposed after Hamas took over. Some of the tunnels were large enough for vehicles. Hamas brought in weapons and supplies, and Gaza residents smuggled in commercial goods, from livestock to construction materials, reported AP.
That changed over the past decade, as Egypt battled Islamic militants in Sinai. The Egyptian military cracked down on the tunnels and destroyed hundreds of them.
The war began when militants burst into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking around 250 hostages. More than 100 were released during a November cease-fire in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Israel’s offensive in response to the attack has killed at least 36,096 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. Israel says it has killed 15,000 militants.
(With inputs from agencies)