Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday his intention to take over the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, as part of Israel’s ongoing campaign to eliminate Hamas. The war, which began on Oct. 7 when Hamas and its allies launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages, is expected to last for several months, Netanyahu said.
“The war is at its height,” he told reporters. “We must shut the Philadelphi Corridor,” he added, referring to the buffer zone that separates Gaza from Egypt. He argued that this was the only way to ensure that Hamas would not be able to rearm itself with weapons smuggled through the border. He did not explain how Israel would achieve this goal, which would effectively reverse its 2005 pullout from Gaza and put the territory under its full control after years of being governed by Hamas.
Netanyahu’s statement came as Israeli forces continued their offensive in Gaza, which has displaced almost all of its 2.3 million inhabitants and killed at least 21,672 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health authorities. More than 56,000 people have been wounded and many more are feared to be buried under the rubble.
The fighting on Saturday was concentrated in central and southern Gaza, where residents and medics reported heavy clashes and airstrikes. Hamas media said that one of its senior commanders, Abdel-Fattah Maali, was killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza. Maali, who was originally from the West Bank, was released in a 2011 prisoner exchange and sent to Gaza. The reports did not say when he was killed.
Israel has lost 172 of its soldiers in the Gaza war, according to its own figures. It claims to have made significant progress in destroying Hamas’ infrastructure, including a tunnel network in the basement of the house of Hamas’ Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza City. It also said it attacked the Hamas military intelligence headquarters and an Islamic Jihad command centre in Khan Younis, and hit targets such as a weapons factory.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which are committed to wiping out Israel, said they inflicted losses on the Israeli army, destroying and damaging several tanks and troop carriers in various parts of Gaza on Saturday. They also said they fired mortars at Israeli forces in Khan Younis, Al-Bureij and northern Gaza.
The United States, Israel’s main ally, has urged Israel to reduce the intensity of the war by focusing on targeted operations against Hamas leaders, and to stop what President Joe Biden has called “indiscriminate shelling.” Israel has rejected this pressure, saying it is determined to destroy Hamas, and accusing the militant group of using civilians as human shields. Hamas denies this allegation.
