The military said in a statement Saturday that its forces were completely surrounded by Rafa and created a “security zone” there.
An announcement from the administration’s military minister, Israel Katz, said the military controls “the Morag axis that transcends between Rafa and Khan Yunis.”
The military said it was “turning the entire area between the Philadelphi route (along the border with Egypt) and turning the Morag into part of Israel’s security zone.”
Katz also urges Palestinians to begin moving westward, warning that military operations should soon be “alerting and expanding in most other parts of Gaza, and that combat zones should be evacuated.”
“Residents have been evacuated in northern Gaza, in Beit Hanong and other areas, and those areas have been taken over and security zones have been expanded.
Evacuation orders will arise as two-thirds of Gaza have been designated as “no-go” zones or since Israel ended its two-month suspension in Gaza and resumed the war of massacres in Gaza on March 19, evacuation orders.
It says that 390,000 Palestinians (nearly five-fifths of the 2.1 million population) have been evacuated again without a safe place.
Katz previously threatened Gaza “small” and “more isolated” by forces, and to pressure Hamas to release the prisoners still held.
However, Hamas warned on Saturday that the attack “not only kills unprotected civilians, but also uncertains the fate of the occupying prisoners (potential war).”
Katz’s latest threat comes as a senior leader of the Palestinian movement, scheduled to meet with Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Saturday.
Hamas said the meeting in Cairo “expectedly bringing great progress in reaching an agreement to end the war, halting the invasion and ensuring the full withdrawal of occupying forces from Gaza.”
The Resistance Group said it has not yet received a new ceasefire proposal.
Since mid-March, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,500 people across Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Dozens of these strikes have said they killed “only women and children,” according to a report by the UN Human Rights Office.
The government’s media office has updated the death toll since October 2023 to more than 61,700. It said thousands of people are estimated to be dead under the tile blew across the territory.
MNA