Israel Claims to Fragment Gaza and Create a New Security Corridor Across It

The Israeli Defense Minister announced that the country's military operations in the Gaza Strip are expanding with the aim of seizing 'vast areas' of the territory. The Prime Minister of Israel also announced the country's determination to create a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials reported that more than 60 people, including 10 children, have been killed in new Israeli attacks, including on a building belonging to the United Nations. Israel Katz, the Israeli Defense Minister, stated on Wednesday, April 1, that Israel's operations in the Gaza Strip are aimed at 'clearing the area of terrorists' and 'seizing vast areas that will be added to Israel's security zones.' The Israeli government has long established a buffer zone within Gaza along its security fence, which has significantly expanded since the onset of the current war. Israel claims this area is essential for its security, but Palestinians view it as territorial occupation that shrinks their narrow territory, which has a population of about two million. Katz did not specify which areas of Gaza would be seized in this operation but mentioned that it would include 'extensive evacuation' of the population from conflict areas. This statement came after Israel issued an order for the complete evacuation of the southern city of Rafah and its surrounding areas. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that over 60% of the Gaza Strip is now considered a 'forbidden area' due to Israeli evacuation orders, with hundreds of thousands living in tent camps or the ruins of their homes, and 'there is nowhere and no one safe in Gaza.' Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, also stated that the country intends to maintain indefinite but unspecified security control over the Gaza Strip after the destruction of Hamas. On Wednesday, Netanyahu also announced that the country is creating a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip, referring to it as the 'Morag Corridor,' named after a former Jewish settlement located between Rafah and Khan Younis, indicating that this corridor will extend between these two southern cities. Netanyahu also stated, 'We are fragmenting the Gaza Strip and gradually increasing the pressure to get our hostages back.' The Israeli Defense Minister also urged the people of Gaza to 'expel Hamas members and return all hostages,' stating, 'This is the only way to end the war.' In addition to Israel, the United States and the European Union also consider the extremist group Hamas a terrorist organization. This group still holds 59 hostages, of whom 24 are likely still alive. However, the Association of Families of Israeli Hostages, representing most of the families of the hostages, stated that 'we are horrified by the Defense Minister's announcement regarding the expansion of military operations in Gaza.' This association said that the Israeli government 'has a duty to free all 59 hostages from Hamas captivity and must use all possible means to reach an agreement.' The Ministry of Health in Gaza, operating under Hamas, reported that at least 60 people were killed in airstrikes on Wednesday, including 19 people (including children) in an attack on a UN clinic that was housing refugees. The Israeli army claimed it targeted a building that was previously a clinic but had now become a Hamas command center. Hamas called this claim 'an obvious lie.' This building belonged to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza. According to a UNRWA spokesperson, this building was previously used as a clinic but has now become a shelter for refugees, housing over 700 people (160 families). According to this agency, two rooms of the building were targeted, and the bodies of seven people and 12 injured were retrieved from it. The Israeli army claims it targeted Hamas members in this attack, asserting that they were hiding in a 'command and control center' used to coordinate armed activities and was a central gathering place for this group. In the Israeli Defense Minister's statement on Wednesday, it was not specified how much land in the Gaza Strip is to be seized and whether this seizure will be permanent or not. According to a report by the Israeli human rights organization Gisha, even before this operation, Israel had controlled about 62 square kilometers (approximately 17%) of the total area of Gaza as a buffer zone. Israeli leaders have announced their intention to facilitate the voluntary exit of Palestinians from Gaza; a move that arose after Donald Trump, the President of the United States, called for the complete evacuation of Gaza and its transformation into a recreational area under American control. At the same time, Israeli leaders appear to be encouraged by signs of protests from Gaza residents against Hamas, and some observers suggest that part of the operation's goal may be to increase pressure on civilians against the extremist group Hamas. The Israeli Defense Minister also stated in his announcement, 'I urge the residents of Gaza to act to eliminate Hamas and return the hostages... This is the only way to end the war.' Israel entered the war in Gaza following the October 7 attack, in which thousands of armed forces led by Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Since then, according to Palestinian health officials, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, and nearly the entire population of 2.3 million in Gaza has been displaced. Israel resumed heavy attacks on the Gaza Strip on March 18 and then effectively ended a ceasefire that had lasted for about two months with the start of a new ground operation in the territory. Meanwhile, mediation efforts by Qatar and Egypt to resume peace negotiations have so far yielded no results, and the return of the Israeli army to Gaza has sparked protests in Israel from the families of hostages. With the expansion of operations in Gaza, Israel has also targeted sites in southern Lebanon and Syria, including an attack on one of Hezbollah's commanders in southern Beirut, further undermining ceasefire agreements. Ronen Bar, head of Israel's internal security agency (Shabak), stated that there is a 'direct connection' between operations in Gaza and attacks in Beirut. On April 1, following the agreement of Hamas leaders to a new proposal from international mediators to extend the ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister announced readiness to allow the leaders of this group to leave Gaza, provided they accept complete disarmament.