ISRAELI troops have deployed to a newly established security corridor across southern Gaza, officials said.
On Wednesday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the new Morag Corridor to raise the pressure on the Hamas militant group.
He suggested it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel has ordered to be evacuated, from the rest of Gaza.
A military statement on Saturday said troops with the 36th Division have been deployed in the corridor.
It was not immediately clear how many had deployed or where exactly the corridor was located.
Morag is the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, and Netanyahu suggested it would run between the cities.
Maps published by Israeli media showed the new corridor running the width of the narrow coastal strip from east to west.
Netanyahu said it would be “a second Philadelphi corridor”, referring to the Gaza side of the border with Egypt further south, which has been under Israeli control since last May.
Israel has also reasserted control over the Netzarim corridor that cuts off the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, from the rest of the strip.
The Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors run from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.
“We are cutting up the strip, and we are increasing the pressure step by step, so that they will give us our hostages,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
