Israel Issues Forced Displacement Threats to Gaza Residents with Announcement of New Military Axis

Gaza (Quds News Network)- The Israeli military has issued new forced displacement threats for several areas in northern Gaza, as intense and deadly attacks have killed and injured hundreds of civilians. Fleeing residents are left with no safe routes or shelters, setting up tents in the streets.

New Threats

The army’s Arabic language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, issued the threats on Thursday for the residents of:

• Gaza’s Old City, Sabra, Tal Al-Hawa, and Western Zaytoun.
• Shujaiya, Turkman, Tawsa’at Nufouth, and Eastern Zaytoun.

A day earlier, one more threat was also issued for residents of: Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and the neighborhoods of Tal Al-Za’tar, Al-Noor, Al-Rawda, Al-Salam, Al-Nahda, Al-Tuffah, Al-Zohour, Sheikh Zayed, Al-Manshiya, and Jabalia Camp.

The military has ordered them to flee to the al-Mawasi area in the southern part of the enclave or to regions in western Gaza City.

The al-Mawasi “safe zone” in Khan Younis was heavily targeted by the Israeli military during the final months of the 15-month war. Many residents, who lost their homes, are still crowded into makeshift tents in the area. After resuming its genocide on March 18, Israel escalated its attacks on the region, targeting the tents and killing dozens.

The Israeli attacks began in March have resulted in the killing over 1000 civilians, the majority of whom are children, so far. Hundreds more have been injured, with many still missing under the rubble, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israeli air force jets have been carrying out a series of attacks across Gaza, targeting multiple areas in the north, center, and south. Reports confirm intense bombardment of residential homes, schools, and tents housing displaced Palestinians.

“Morag Axis”

On Wednesday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the forces were “seizing territory” and “dividing up” Gaza.

According to OCHA, the UN humanitarian agency, the Israeli military has declared over 64% of the territory military buffer zones and “no-go” zones for civilians.

On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled the southern city of Rafah and surrounding areas, as Israeli ground troops advanced to create Netanyahu’s newly announced corridor, “Morag Axis”.

Movement was impeded, however, by at least three Israeli strikes on the two main roads leading north.

The “Morag Axis” consists mainly of agricultural land located between Khan Younis and Rafah, stretching from east to west across the Gaza Strip.

It also includes parts of what the Israeli military had previously designated as a “humanitarian zone”.

The name “Morag” that he used refers to an illegal Israeli settlement that was established in the region between 1972 and 2005.

It remains unclear what Netanyahu meant by “seizing” the area.

Israeli ground and aerial forces have been relentlessly attacking Rafah, since they resumed bombing the besieged enclave last month.

They have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since then, and more than 50,400 since October 2023.

Troops have raided prominent residential neighbourhoods in the city – which was densely populated before the war – and indiscriminately killed civilians, including executing medics, while forcing tens of thousands to flee on foot.

The military has said its aim is to “encircle” Rafah.

According to Israeli Channel 12, the separation of Khan Younis and Rafah is part of the military’s plan to implement US President Donand Trump’s proposal of expelling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

A defence source told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that they were surprised by Netanyahu’s announcement that the army had seized the “Morag axis”.

The source said the military’s plan to control the area separating Rafah and Khan Younis had not been approved, and its disclosure could endanger troops.

It was still unclear how the route could be connected to the sea, as it runs through the “humanitarian zone”, the source added.

Netanyahu explained that the purpose of controlling the area is to “divide” the Gaza Strip by cutting Rafah off from Khan Younis and to “increase pressure step by step so they will give us our hostages”.

Israeli forces previously attempted to control east-to-west corridors in northern Gaza, parallel to the so-called “Morag axis”, as part of military strategy to increase pressure on specific regions.

At the onset of the war, they controlled the so-called Netzarim Corridor, located between Gaza City and central Gaza, blocking the movement of people between the enclave’s north and south.

Currently, Israeli forces control the Philadelphi Corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt in southern Rafah.

According to the terms of the January ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor by the end of the first phase, a clause they failed to honour.

Netanyahu called the “Morag axis” the “Second Philadelphi” route.