Image Credits - Bloomberg
As per the recent reports from Al Jazeera, intense Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages continued to pound the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, as the military simultaneously moved to take control of the adjacent Philadelphi corridor along the Egyptian border, according to Palestinian officials and witnesses on the ground.
The Israeli bombardment of Rafah has shown no letup for days, leaving much of the city of over 200,000 residents pounded into rubble. But the deployment of ground forces to seize the Philadelphi corridor points to a potentially more permanent Israeli aim – the establishment of a wide buffer zone extending well into Rafah itself.
Plumes of smoke billowed over the northern Philadelphi area as Israeli troops and armored vehicles were seen operating openly, meeting no Palestinian resistance. This sliver of land, just hundreds of meters wide but stretching along Gaza’s entire border with Egypt, appears to be the first phase of claimed Israeli plans to carve out a demilitarized zone reaching up to 1 km (0.6 miles) deep into Rafah city from the frontier.
The Israeli military censor has barred publication of details about the ongoing Rafah operation. However, the military spokesman’s office stated that “surgical strikes” were being conducted against Palestinian militants who have launched hundreds of rockets from Rafah over the past two weeks.
Independent verification of the situation in Rafah remains extremely difficult, as the intensity of the bombardment has kept away international observers and journalists. But satellite imagery, witness accounts, and video footage depict airstrikes and shelling laying waste to entire neighborhoods.
If implemented as alleged, a buffer zone of this size would require razing large swaths of one of Gaza’s most densely populated cities. Humanitarian officials warn it could trigger another wave of mass displacement and deepen the enclave’s protracted crisis.
Israel has cited a need to remove potential threats from its borders following its withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. But rights groups have long accused Israeli authorities of using disproportionate force and collective punishment measures that victimize Palestinian civilians.
The latest escalation was sparked by isolated rocket fire from Gaza earlier this month. Nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed so far, according to Gaza authorities. Israel has reported over 12 deaths from militant rocket strikes.
With diplomacy frozen, there is no end in sight to the current hostilities – now seemingly aimed at forcibly creating a new regional reality on the ground in southern Gaza.