IDF Secures Morag Corridor in Gaza, Intensifies Operations in Rafah

 Jerusalem, April 12, 2025 – The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced at noon on Saturday the successful capture of the Morag Corridor in southern Gaza, effectively isolating the city of Rafah from Khan Younis. This strategic move marks a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict, with the IDF now encircling Rafah as part of its intensified military campaign.

The military reported that the 36th Division has established control over the Morag Corridor, while the Gaza Division maintains operations along the Philadelphi Corridor near the Egypt-Gaza border. Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a stern call to Palestinians, urging them to “remove Hamas and release all the hostages” to avert further military expansion. In a statement, Katz emphasized, “This is the final moment to remove Hamas and release the hostages and bring about an end to the war. Intensive IDF activity will soon expand to additional places in most of Gaza, and you will have to evacuate the combat zones.”

The operation saw the 36th Division’s 188th Armored Brigade advance from the northwest, converging with the Golani Infantry Brigade entering from the southeast, completing the corridor’s capture overnight. Engineering units are currently constructing a road through the area, mirroring infrastructure developments in other IDF-controlled Gaza corridors. The military has signaled plans to penetrate previously unentered sections of Rafah to dismantle remaining Hamas forces, following evacuation warnings issued to civilians nearly two weeks ago.

Concurrently, the IDF reported intercepting three rockets fired from Gaza toward the Sufa and Holit areas along the southern border on Saturday. The launches triggered alerts in open areas but spared nearby towns, with no casualties reported. Over the past week and a half, the IDF claims to have neutralized dozens of terror operatives and destroyed extensive Hamas infrastructure, including tunnels, in the Morag Corridor region.

The operation has not been without cost. On Friday, two soldiers were injured in southern Gaza—one seriously—during ongoing engagements. An officer sustained moderate wounds in a firefight that killed three gunmen, while a separate incident involving an accidental discharge left another soldier seriously injured. Additionally, the IDF confirmed the elimination of Ahmad Iyad Muhammad Farhat, a Hamas sniper commander in Rafah’s Tel Sultan Battalion, responsible for multiple attacks on Israeli forces.

Further military action included strikes on dozens of targets across Gaza, targeting operative cells, terror group facilities, weapons caches, and other infrastructure. On Friday, the IDF issued an evacuation warning for residents in eastern Gaza City’s Shejaiya, Zeitoun, and Tuffah neighborhoods. IDF Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee outlined plans for “great force” operations to dismantle terror infrastructure, directing civilians to seek shelter in western Gaza City.

Katz’s statement also addressed the broader context, accusing Hamas leaders of abandoning residents. “Hamas is unable to protect the residents or the territory. Hamas leaders are hiding in tunnels with their families and in luxury hotels abroad with billions in their bank accounts and are using you as hostages,” he said. He proposed that interested individuals could “voluntarily move to various countries around the world, in accordance with the vision of the US president, which we are working to carry out.”

The IDF’s buffer zone in southern Gaza is set to expand significantly, stretching from the Egyptian border to Khan Younis’s outskirts—over 5 kilometers—and encompassing Rafah, comprising approximately 20% of the Strip. Elsewhere along the Gaza border, the buffer has widened from several hundred meters to about 2 kilometers.

The conflict, ignited on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 and abducted 251 during a brutal incursion, continues to exact a heavy toll. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reports over 50,000 killed or missing, though these figures remain unverified and lack differentiation between civilians and fighters. Israel estimates it has eliminated approximately 20,000 combatants in Gaza and 1,600 during the initial attack, with 410 IDF personnel lost in the ongoing ground offensive and border operations. Currently, 59 hostages remain in captivity, with 24 believed alive and 35 confirmed dead.

As the IDF deepens its control, the humanitarian and military ramifications of the campaign remain under intense scrutiny, with both sides entrenched in their positions amid a protracted war.