Israel says it has taken control of a key corridor in the Gaza Strip in a move that has completely cut off the populated southern town of Rafah from the rest of the besieged Palestinian territory. 

The military said in a statement on Saturday that its forces have completely encircled Rafah and created their “security zone” there.

The announcement from the regime’s minister of military affairs, Israel Katz, said that the military has taken control of “the Morag axis, which crosses Gaza between Rafah and Khan Yunis.”

It said the military is “turning the entire area between the Philadelphi Route (along the border with Egypt) and Morag into part of the Israeli security zone.”

Katz also called on Palestinians to start moving westward, warning that the military operations will soon “intensify and expand to other areas throughout most of Gaza, and you will need to evacuate the combat zones.”

“In northern Gaza as well — in Beit Hanoun and other neighborhoods — residents are evacuating, the area is being taken over and the security zone is being expanded, including in the Netzarim corridor,” he claimed.

The evacuation orders come as, according to the UN, two-thirds of Gaza has been designated as “no-go” zones or placed under evacuation orders since Israel unilaterally ended a two-month Gaza ceasefire and resumed its genocidal war on Gaza on March 19

It says 390,000 Palestinians – almost a fifth of the 2.1 million population – have been displaced once again, with no safe place to go.

Katz threatened earlier that the military was leaving Gaza “smaller” and “more isolated” to pressure Hamas into releasing the captives it is still holding.

Hamas, however, warned on Saturday that the offensive not only “kills defenseless civilians but also makes the fate of the occupation’s prisoners (captives) uncertain.”

Katz’s latest threat came as senior leaders from the Palestinian movement scheduled to hold talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Saturday.

Hamas said it anticipated the meeting in Cairo would yield “significant progress towards reaching an agreement to end the war, halt the aggression and ensure the full withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza.”

The resistance group said it has not yet received any new ceasefire proposals.

Since mid-March, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,500 people across Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.

A report by the UN Human Rights Office said dozens of these strikes have killed “only women and children.”

 The Government Media Office updated its death toll since October 2023 to over 61,700. It said thousands of people missing under the rubble across the territory are presumed dead.