Palestinian Territory – The Israeli army's announcement of a new corridor dividing eastern and western Khan Yunis marks a dangerous escalation in a broader colonial project to fragment Palestinian territory.
This move paves the way for geographic and demographic restructuring in line with Israel's long-term objectives. It serves as an additional tool to isolate areas, dismantle unity within the Gaza Strip, and reengineer realities on the ground. The aim is to entrench military control and forcibly confine the population to a narrow coastal area under inhumane conditions, functioning as a direct method of their deliberate destruction.
The Israeli army announced today the establishment of the Magen Oz corridor, a 15-kilometre military road separating eastern and western Khan Yunis. The corridor reinforces Israel's policy of isolation and the fragmentation of Gaza's territorial integrity. It also revives traditional colonial tools in modern form, aiming to impose a permanent reality that undermines the Palestinian presence and paves the way for depopulation.
The areas isolated by the new Israeli corridor cover approximately 45 per cent of Khan Yunis Governorate, equivalent to around 12 per cent of the total area of the Gaza Strip
This corridor is part of Israel's effort to establish a permanent military presence in the Gaza Strip and reflects its disregard for any de-escalation efforts that could lead to an end to its military operations or its illegal occupation of the enclave.
The areas isolated by the new Israeli corridor cover approximately 45 per cent of Khan Yunis Governorate, equivalent to around 12 per cent of the total area of the Gaza Strip. The corridor begins at the Morag corridor south of Khan Yunis, which Israel announced in April, and extends north along Salah al-Din Street. It completely isolates the areas of Jouret Allout and Ma'an, as well as the towns of Al-Fukhari, Khuza'a, Bani Suheila, Abasan al-Kabira, Abasan al-Jadida, and the eastern parts of Al-Qarara north of Khan Yunis.
Euro-Med Monitor's field team has documented a sharp escalation in bombing and systematic destruction in the areas east of Khan Yunis, now isolated by the new corridor. Israeli forces carried out aerial and artillery strikes, used explosive-laden robots, and then deployed heavy machinery to conceal the destruction and transport rubble to unknown locations inside Israel. The team estimates that at least 90 per cent of the buildings in these areas have been destroyed.
In its statements on operations in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army deliberately misrepresented the construction of the new corridor, concealing the fact that it is being built over the ruins of thousands of destroyed buildings and residential homes that once stood in the area.
The destruction is not confined to buildings along the corridor but extends in all directions to surrounding areas covering several kilometres. This operation aims to erase the urban environment entirely under a false military pretext.
Similarly, when the Israeli army announces the clearing of militants from an area, it is in fact declaring its complete obliteration: total destruction, forced displacement, and the uprooting of all forms of life. This pattern was evident in the northern Gaza Strip and in Rafah, where misleading military rhetoric was used to mask mass killings, widespread displacement, and the systematic destruction of urban infrastructure, all in an attempt to conceal acts of genocide behind deceptive terminology.
This behaviour reflects an Israeli military doctrine that treats civilian presence as a threat to be eliminated. It designates homes, hospitals, and schools as "terrorist" infrastructure and considers civilians legitimate targets simply for remaining in targeted areas, in a flagrant and unprecedented breach of the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
Such practices are part of a systematic process that began with the onset of the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, characterised by the deliberate and wide-scale destruction of entire cities and neighbourhoods. This is a direct manifestation of the ongoing genocide, now in its twenty-first month, where demolition, devastation, and forced displacement serve as primary tools of execution.
In addition to killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians and systematically destroying the lives of approximately 2.3 million people by eliminating their basic means of survival, Israeli forces are actively working to annihilate Palestinian cities, including their architectural and cultural fabric. This is accompanied by the erasure of Palestinian national and cultural identity, the uprooting of people from their land, permanent forced displacement, denial of return, dismantling of communities, and the obliteration of collective memory, all as part of a systematic attempt to eliminate their physical and human presence and to destroy their past, present, and future.
Residential areas across the Gaza Strip are being subjected to daily destruction and repeated bombing by Israeli forces, reducing them to rubble. Heavy machinery then arrives to clear the debris and transport it into Israel, completely altering the landscape of these areas.
The ongoing pattern of comprehensive destruction targeting Palestinian towns and neighbourhoods, including homes, civilian and economic facilities, and infrastructure, clearly shows that this devastation is not driven by military necessity. Instead, it is aimed at erasing Palestinian material and cultural heritage, in grave violation of international law.
This behaviour is part of Israel's policy of urbicide, targeting not only the Palestinian population and their properties, but also their cultural and civilisational existence. It involves erasing physical and historical traces of their connection to the land, weakening their ability to remain, and ultimately eliminating their social and physical presence to pave the way for illegal settlement projects in the Gaza Strip.
The forced displacement of Palestinians is a direct extension of Israel's decades-long settler-colonial project, rooted in the erasure of Palestinian existence and the seizure of their land. What sets this phase apart is its unprecedented scale and severity, demonstrated by the comprehensive targeting of all 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023 through genocide and the denial of people's most basic human rights. The conditions of extreme coercion and deprivation forced upon the Palestinian people represent a deliberate effort to push them out of their homeland, not by choice but as a condition for their very survival. This stands as one of the most blatant cases of planned mass displacement in modern history.
All states must fulfil their international obligations by pressuring Israel to halt the genocide and other serious crimes in the Gaza Strip. This includes protecting civilians, ensuring Israel's compliance with international law and the rulings of the International Court of Justice, imposing sanctions, ending all forms of military, financial, and political support, and immediately suspending arms sales, transfers, purchases, and related export licences and military aid. Israel must be held accountable at all levels, both domestically and internationally.
States and relevant entities must also pursue accountability of countries complicit in or supportive of Israel's crimes, most notably the United States, along with other governments that provide Israel with any form of assistance connected to these violations. This includes military, intelligence, political, legal, financial, and media support, as well as any contractual engagements that contribute to the continuation of these crimes.
