The Israeli military on Wednesday said it seized a buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border, giving the Jewish state effective control over the Palestinian territory's entire land border amid its offensive in Rafah.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces gained "operational control" over the "Philadelphi Corridor", using the Israeli military's code name for the 14 km-long corridor along Gaza's only border with Egypt.
Israeli forces continued to press its offensive in various parts of Rafah despite an International Court of Justice (ICJ) order to cease attacks in the southern Gaza city, where half of the Strip's 2.3 million people had taken refuge during the initial stages of the war.
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Before Israel captured the Gaza-Egypt border, the Jewish state had not controlled the Strip's only land border directly. Hagari said Hamas used to smuggle weapons into Gaza through the "Philadelphi Corridor".
On Wednesday, Israeli tanks entered the interior parts of Rafah for raids for the first time despite the ICJ, the UN's top court, ordering Israel to stop its attacks on the city. According to residents, the tanks moved into Tel Al-Sultan in the west and Yibna and near Shaboura in the centre before retreating towards a buffer zone on the border with Egypt.
Israel's National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said the war in Gaza would continue throughout 2024 at least. The Jewish state has earlier said the fighting will not end until it "dismantled" all Hamas infrastructures and rejected an offer that all hostages will be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
On Wednesday, Brazil withdrew its ambassador to Israel after months of tensions between the two countries over the war in Gaza, the latest repercussion from a South American nation over Israel’s military campaign in the Palestinian territory.
Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Raman called on the US to pressurise Israel to open the Rafah crossing for humanitarian aid, saying that people who were injured in Gaza during the war were dying due to lack of treatment.
