People fleeing Rafah arrive in the city of Khan Younis after new Israeli evacuation orders, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 31, 2025. (Credit: Eyad Baba/AFP.)
BEIRUT — The Israeli army is preparing to include the city of Rafah, in south Gaza, and surrounding areas in the buffer zone it is establishing along the border, Haaretz reported, citing sources within the Israeli defense.
The Israeli newspaper, which has been critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, said about 200,000 Palestinians who lived between the Philadelphi Corridor to the south and Morag Road to the north before the war have fled the area following systematic destruction by Israeli forces. Remaining civilians have reportedly been instructed to relocate to a humanitarian zone along the coast, near Khan Younis and the Mawassi area.
The decision to include Rafah in the buffer zone was made by Netanyahu’s government when the war resumed on March 18, nearly two months after a second cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was violated by Israel. Haaretz drew a parallel with the methods used by Israeli forces in the northern part of the enclave.
With the inclusion of Rafah, the buffer zone is expected to extend over 75 square kilometers (km), or roughly one-fifth of the 365 square km Gaza strip. An enclave within the enclave, controlled by Israel, which would be cut off from the Egyptian border.
The government's stated goal is to increase pressure on Hamas in an attempt to hasten the end of the war, according to sources contacted by Haaretz, who report an awareness within the army that the international community, including Washington, would not support an extended military campaign in Gaza.
The army is already working on widening the Morag Road, demolishing structures along its route, and the possibility that the city might be wiped off the map by Israeli bulldozers is among the options considered.
The total Palestinian death toll since the beginning of the war has recently surpassed 50,000. Gaza, where no aid has entered due to the Israeli blockade, is now a "field of death," the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced Tuesday night, a charge rejected by the Israeli government.