In a dangerous escalation of its ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Israeli military has launched a new offensive in the so-called “Morag Axis,” a strategic area separating Rafah from Khan Younis.

Palestinian authorities have condemned the assault as a blatant attempt to deepen Israeli control and permanently fragment the besieged Strip.

The Morag Axis, named after a former illegal Israeli settlement dismantled in 2005, has now become the latest target of Israel’s brutal campaign to dismember Gaza and isolate its cities from one another. The Israeli army's 36th Division, notorious for its role in earlier atrocities, has been redeployed to the area.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted images online claiming to show the division’s “initial operations” in the corridor. He stated that these attacks are coordinated with other assaults across Gaza, part of what Palestinians see as a deliberate strategy of occupation, destruction, and long-term colonization.

Just days earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his intention to seize the Morag Corridor, mirroring Israel’s occupation of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border in May 2024. That move has further tightened the blockade and cut Gaza off from essential humanitarian support.

Palestinian officials and human rights observers have warned that Israel’s seizure of key corridors like Morag is designed to cement its occupation, prevent the territorial continuity of Gaza, and make any future statehood for Palestinians virtually impossible.

Since October 2023, Israel’s military onslaught has killed over 50,600 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians, including thousands of children. The death toll continues to rise as airstrikes, artillery shelling, and drone attacks target residential neighborhoods, hospitals, and refugee camps.

Despite international calls for a ceasefire—including resolutions by the United Nations and legal directives by the International Court of Justice—Israel’s aggression has intensified. Humanitarian agencies remain blocked at Gaza’s crossings, and critical aid, including food and medical supplies, is being deliberately withheld by Israeli authorities.

Palestinian resistance groups have vowed to continue defending Gaza's sovereignty, denouncing Israel’s latest actions as part of a genocidal campaign that must be halted by the global community. (ILKHA)