PM: IDF seizing ‘2nd Philadelphi’ route, cutting off Rafah from Khan Younis to squeeze Hamas into freeing hostages

Israel is “shifting gears” in Gaza and creating a “second Philadelphi” route, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, referring to the corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border.

IDF forces are seizing the “Morag axis,” says Netanyahu. The route, which separates Rafah from Khan Younis to its north, is located where the Israeli settlement once stood before it was evacuated during Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza.

Netanyahu has made continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi route a top priority in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations, insisting that IDF withdrawal from the corridor will allow for the smuggling of weapons into the Strip. Nonetheless, he agreed as part of the January hostage deal to fully withdraw Israeli troops from the Philadelphi Corridor by the 50th day of the deal — a clause Israel has gone on to violate. Israeli troops remain in the corridor and have expanded their presence there as well.

The move is part of an escalating IDF military campaign to press Hamas into accepting Israeli terms for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, Netanyahu says.

Israel is pushing forward from the north and south, evacuating civilians toward central Gaza.

“We are now cutting off the Strip and we are increasing the pressure step by step… so they will give us our hostages. The longer they refuse to give them up, the more the pressure will increase until they do,” Netanyahu says.