ISTANBUL 

Israeli army said Wednesday it opened a new corridor bisecting Khan Younis city of the southern Gaza Strip.

The corridor, dubbed Magen Oz, stretches about 15 kilometers, separating east and west Khan Younis, said the army.

“Stretching approximately 15 kilometers, this corridor serves as a key component in applying pressure on Hamas and achieving the decisive defeat of its Khan Yunis Brigade,” the army claimed in a statement.

To date, the Israeli army has announced the Netzarim axis, which separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip; the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border; and the Morag axis, which divides Rafah and Khan Younis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu uses these axes as a pretext to stall indirect negotiations with Hamas by insisting on maintaining them to continue the devastation in Gaza, while the Palestinian movement has accepted previous proposals and demanded the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the entire territory.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since late October 2023, killing nearly 58,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and the spread of diseases.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.