Israeli military completes encirclement of Gaza's Rafah
Israeli forces announced on Saturday that they have finished encircling Gaza's Rafah as part of their stated strategy to capture additional regions of the enclave, which is also being accompanied by extensive evacuations of residents.
TroibNews 
Israeli forces announced on Saturday that they have completed the encirclement of Rafah in Gaza, part of a broader initiative to expand their control over the area while concurrently facilitating significant population evacuations.
Since reinitiating operations in Gaza on March 18, the military has issued multiple evacuation alerts to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Rafah, pushing them into an increasingly confined space bordered by the sea.
On April 2, Israel declared that its troops had begun to take control of an area referred to as the Morag Axis, named after a former Israeli settlement that once existed between Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled Rafah, which encompasses a 60 square kilometer area adjacent to Egypt to the south.
"Over the past 24 hours, the 36th Division's troops completed the establishment of the Morag route, separating Rafah and Khan Younis," the military stated on Saturday.
The Israeli operations in Gaza commenced following an attack on southern Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, which led to the deaths of approximately 1,200 individuals and the abduction of 251 hostages, based on Israeli reports.
Since then, more than 50,000 Palestinians are reported to have died due to the ongoing military actions, according to health officials in the Hamas-administered region. The majority of the population has been displaced, and extensive destruction has occurred throughout Gaza.
Israel resumed its offensive in March after effectively ending a ceasefire that had been in place since January. The military has indicated that its campaign will persist until the remaining 59 hostages are released and Hamas is eradicated from Gaza.
In response, Hamas has maintained that it will only release hostages as part of a larger agreement to conclude the conflict and has dismissed calls to disarm. A Hamas delegation was anticipated in Cairo over the weekend to explore new truce proposals, according to sources within the group.
Sophie Wagner for TROIB News
Since reinitiating operations in Gaza on March 18, the military has issued multiple evacuation alerts to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Rafah, pushing them into an increasingly confined space bordered by the sea.
On April 2, Israel declared that its troops had begun to take control of an area referred to as the Morag Axis, named after a former Israeli settlement that once existed between Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled Rafah, which encompasses a 60 square kilometer area adjacent to Egypt to the south.
"Over the past 24 hours, the 36th Division's troops completed the establishment of the Morag route, separating Rafah and Khan Younis," the military stated on Saturday.
The Israeli operations in Gaza commenced following an attack on southern Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, which led to the deaths of approximately 1,200 individuals and the abduction of 251 hostages, based on Israeli reports.
Since then, more than 50,000 Palestinians are reported to have died due to the ongoing military actions, according to health officials in the Hamas-administered region. The majority of the population has been displaced, and extensive destruction has occurred throughout Gaza.
Israel resumed its offensive in March after effectively ending a ceasefire that had been in place since January. The military has indicated that its campaign will persist until the remaining 59 hostages are released and Hamas is eradicated from Gaza.
In response, Hamas has maintained that it will only release hostages as part of a larger agreement to conclude the conflict and has dismissed calls to disarm. A Hamas delegation was anticipated in Cairo over the weekend to explore new truce proposals, according to sources within the group.
Sophie Wagner for TROIB News
