Israeli forces have completed encirclement of Gaza's Rafah, military says 

Israeli forces encircle Gaza's Rafah, plan to expand offensive, urging evacuations from active combat zones, intensifying operations.

Israeli forces have completed the encirclement of Gaza's Rafah, the military said on Saturday (April 12, 2025), part of an announced plan to seize more areas of the enclave, accompanied by large-scale evacuations of the population.

The military has issued repeated evacuation warnings to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across Rafah since it resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, forcing them into a diminishing space limited by the sea.

Israel said on April 2 that troops had begun seizing an area it called the Morag Axis, a reference to a former Israeli settlement once located between the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have since fled Rafah, a 60 square km area that borders Egypt to the south.

"Over the past 24 hours, the 36th Division's troops completed the establishment of the Morag route, separating Rafah and Khan Younis," the military said on Saturday.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Saturday (April 12, 2025) that the military plans to expand its ongoing offensive across much of the Gaza Strip, warning residents to evacuate from active combat zones.

“Soon, IDF operations will intensify and expand to other areas throughout most of Gaza, and you will need to evacuate the combat zones,” Katz said in a statement addressed to residents of Gaza, as he also announced that troops had completed the takeover of a corridor in the southern part of the territory.