Israeli Military Expands Ground Invasion in North Gaza

Gaza (Quds News Network)- The Israeli military announced that its forces began a ground invasion in the Shujayea neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip, escalating its offensive on the Palestinian enclave.

The military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said the increasing offensive aims to “deepen control of the area” and expand a so-called “security zone,” in apparent reference to Israel’s buffer zone along the Gaza fence.

As part of the operations, the forces killed a number of “terrorists” and destroyed “terrorist infrastructure,” including a command and control centre used by Hamas, it claimed. A Palestinian mother and her child were among the victims on Friday morning.

Israeli army tanks have advanced deeper into the eastern areas of Gaza City, and are currently stationed at Al-Mentar Hill overlooking the entire city. pic.twitter.com/bOJmyWEOlo

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 4, 2025

The military also issued a forced displacement threat to the neighbourhood’s residents, forcing them to flee their homes and belongings behind.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a map on Friday revealing that 65 percent of Gaza’s territory is now either Israeli military “no go” zones or subject to forced displacement orders.

Israel’s Defence Minister has also announced a major expansion of the Israeli ground assault on Gaza, promising to seize large areas of the Palestinian enclave and incorporate them into so-called “security” zones.

In a statement on Wednesday, Israel Katz said Israeli troops would move to clear areas “of terrorists and infrastructure, and capture extensive territory that will be added to the State of Israel’s security areas”.

Katz, however, did not make clear how much land Israel intends to seize.

The Israeli military has already set up a significant buffer zone within Gaza, expanding an area that existed around the edges of the enclave before the war, and added a large area in the so-called Netzarim Corridor through the middle of the territory.

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

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.