Israeli troops take complete control of Philadelphi Corridor, fully isolating Gaza: Witnesses

The Israeli army on Friday took complete control of the Philadelphi Corridor, which separates the Gaza Strip from Egypt, fully isolating the enclave.

Israeli forces advanced further west to the Meditarian Sea in Rafah, southern Gaza, controlling the entire Philadelphi Corridor, a 14-kilometer (8.69-mile) demilitarized buffer zone running along the Gaza-Egypt border, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

Witnesses reported that Israeli military vehicles are now stationed on Al-Rashid Street, which runs along Rafah's western edge.

They noted that Israeli snipers have occupied high-rise buildings and are instructed to fire at anyone moving in the area.

The Israeli army bombed several homes in the Azba area west of Al Qarya as well as the Suwaydiya neighborhood, resulting in numerous Palestinian casualties, the witnesses added.

Most of the wounded cannot be reached by ambulance because Israeli forces are targeting anyone with gunfire in the area.

Witnesses also noted that Israeli tanks continued to shell areas west of Rafah from their northern positions.

The Israeli army attacks have forced the majority of Palestinians from western Rafah to flee to Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

The Israeli military's control of the Philadelphi Corridor comes just days after it announced on May 29 that it had operationally secured the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Israel's control of the Philadelphi Corridor means officially severing Gaza's geographic connection with Egypt and imposing a comprehensive military blockade on the strip.

The Philadelphi Corridor, also known as the Salah al-Din Route, is a border strip between Egypt and Gaza. It extends inside Gaza for several hundred meters and spans 14.5 kilometers from the Kerem Shalom crossing to the Mediterranean Sea.

This corridor is part of the border area within Palestinian territories under Israeli control according to the 1979 Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last Oct. 7 despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 36,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.