Israel annexes Rafah to the "pillow zone"

BarcelonaThe Israeli army completely surrounded Rafah, in southern Gaza, separating it from Khan Younis and isolating it from the rest of the Strip, and claimed it as part of its "security zone" or "pillow zone." The army announced this in a statement, and the city's mayor confirmed it to Al-Assad. The move, that the Israeli newspaper Haaretz had announced this Wednesday that it would happen, is part of a plan to gain control of more areas of the enclave.

Israel Katz, Israel's Defense Minister, has celebrated that the country's army has seized what he calls the "Morag corridor," a road in southern Gaza that separates Rafah from the rest of the Strip. "This move effectively turns Rafah into an Israeli security zone," he concludes in a statement.

In the text, Katz also threatens the Palestinians of Gaza, stating that "this is the last opportunity to banish Hamas, free all the hostages and stop the war." If they do not heed his warnings, the operations will spread to "most of the territory of Gaza."

Since Israel resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, The army has issued repeated evacuation orders throughout Rafah for its residents to relocate to the so-called humanitarian zone on the coast, between Khan Younis and Al Mawasi.

Tel Aviv said on April 2 that its troops had begun seizing the Morag corridor, a name that refers to a former Israeli settlement that formerly lay between the towns of Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled Rafah, a 60-square-kilometer area bordering Egypt to the south.

With the expansion of the "pillow zone," Israel takes another step toward controlling Gaza. In addition to annexing a very significant area—almost a fifth of the enclave—it completely isolates the Strip from Egypt.

A move that accelerates "ethnic cleansing"

Another area where Israel wants to expand its control is the Netzarim Corridor, a route that divides the Strip in two, according to Katz in the same statement. Israel briefly withdrew from that corridor during the ceasefire earlier this year, but regained control after breaking the agreement.

The defense minister again emphasized the "voluntary" exit he offers to Palestinians who want to flee Gaza, again referring to US President Donald Trump's plan to expel Palestinians.

In a statement, the Rafah municipality condemned the annexation, which it said was illegal and considered a further step in the "massacre" and "systematic ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians in the enclave. "[The annexation] blatantly violates international law and defies UN resolutions that recognize Palestinian sovereignty," it denounces. "Rafah is and always will be Palestine. No military order, no forced annexation, and no rewriting of maps can break our people's ancient ties to this land." The municipality also calls for immediate action from the international community before "more families are buried."