IDF strike kills women and children as Israel pushes south, sparking fears of permanent occupation

At least 23 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in northern Gaza on Wednesday, amid reports that Israel is preparing to take full control of the southern city of Rafah.

The attack hit a four-storey home in the Shijaiyah suburb of Gaza City. Medics at al-Ahli Hospital confirmed the toll, noting the death of at least eight women and children as rescue workers scrambled through the rubble into the night searching for survivors.

The Israeli military claimed it had targeted a senior Hamas figure. But the strike came as part of an intensified campaign that has resumed since Israel ended a two-month ceasefire with Hamas on 2 March. The pause collapsed after Israel halted humanitarian aid and renewed its bombing campaign weeks later. According to Gaza’s health ministry, 1,500 people have died and more than 3,700 have been injured in the latest phase of the war.

In response, Hamas launched its largest rocket attack since the ceasefire ended, firing 10 projectiles towards Ashkelon in southern Israel earlier this week. Twelve people were reportedly injured.

The Israeli government insists the renewed military operations are aimed at forcing Hamas to release remaining hostages. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “divide up” Gaza and issue sweeping evacuation orders to make way for new Israeli military zones.

On Wednesday, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are planning to annex the entire city of Rafah and its outskirts into a new “security corridor” connecting Rafah to Khan Younis – a move dubbed the “Morag corridor.” If completed, it would sever Gaza’s only land connection to Egypt, surrounding the enclave entirely with Israeli-controlled territory.

The report fuelled international alarm. The United Nations estimates nearly 400,000 people have been displaced since March. With Rafah already hosting over a million internally displaced Palestinians, a full military seizure would leave many with nowhere else to go.

Fears of permanent Israeli control over Gaza have surged. Critics say the Morag corridor signals an attempt to redraw Gaza’s boundaries and transform it into a sealed-off territory under Israeli occupation. The plan has heightened concerns of forced displacement, a red line for the international community.

The war began on 7 October 2023, after Hamas launched a surprise assault into southern Israel. According to Israeli authorities, 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, most of them civilians. Since then, the Israeli response has left more than 50,000 people dead in Gaza, the vast majority of them civilians, according to the local health ministry.

Mediation efforts by international actors to negotiate another ceasefire have stalled. Hamas demands a complete end to the war before releasing its remaining 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to still be alive. Netanyahu, under pressure from far-right coalition partners, insists fighting will not stop until Hamas is destroyed.

In a controversial move this week, Netanyahu travelled to the United States to meet former President Donald Trump, who has openly called for the depopulation of Gaza. Trump has suggested that Gaza’s residents be expelled either voluntarily or by force — a position widely condemned by global leaders. Israel’s alignment with Trump’s proposal has deepened its diplomatic isolation in the region.

As the rubble settles over Shijaiyah and thousands await their fate in Rafah, the conflict shows no sign of resolution. Instead, it edges closer to a full-scale reordering of Gaza’s geography and a deepening humanitarian catastrophe.