Israel has created a new corridor up to 1 km wide in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, which may indicate the desire of the Israeli authorities to maintain their presence in the enclave in the long term, reported the British television channel Sky News, referring to an analysis of satellite images by the company Forensic Architecture.
It is noted that the corridor runs from Gaza's border with Israel to the outskirts of the town of Beit Hanoun. To create it, the Israel Defense Forces demolished residential buildings in order to provide freedom of movement for armored vehicles.
Forensic architecture expert Samane Moafi called Israel's actions “sophisticated colonial techniques of fragmentation and division” Palestinians. “This is alarming because in the history of the Israeli occupation, the corridors have been used to fragment the Palestinian territories, especially in the West Bank,” she said.
Israel currently controls two strategic corridors in the Gaza Strip - the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt, as well as the Netzarim Corridor near Gaza City, crossing the enclave from west to east.
The newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli security cabinet approved the decision to maintain the presence of Israeli troops in the Philadelphia Corridor. On August 22, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office denied reports that the country's leadership was considering the idea of deploying an international contingent in the Philadelphia Corridor. The statement said the prime minister insisted on the principle that Israel would control this buffer zone to prevent the radical Palestinian movement Hamas from rearming.
According to the TV channel Al Hadath, the issue of control over the Philadelphia Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor is one of the stumbling blocks in the negotiations in Doha to resolve the conflict in Gaza. Hamas opposes the deployment of Israeli troops there.