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Netzarim Corridor

Coordinates: 31°28′11″N 34°25′54″E / 31.4697°N 34.4316°E / 31.4697; 34.4316
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For the road specifically, see Route 749 (Gaza).
Netzarim Corridor
Military occupation
Approximate location of the Netzarim Corridor as it extends from Gaza–Israel border to the Mediterranean Sea. The corridor's width is approximately 4 km, centered on Route 749.
Approximate location of the Netzarim Corridor as it extends from Gaza–Israel border to the Mediterranean Sea. The corridor's width is approximately 4 km, centered on Route 749.
Map
RegionGaza Strip, Palestine

The Netzarim Corridor[1] is an area in the Gaza Strip that has served as an Israeli zone of military occupation during the Gaza war.[2] The corridor, which splits the Gaza Strip down the middle, is located just south of Gaza City and stretches from the Gaza–Israel border to the Mediterranean Sea.[3]

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) considers this corridor to be essential for carrying out raids in northern and central Gaza, as well as securely channeling aid into the region.[4] The corridor was run by IDF divisions that rotated in and out of it, particularly the 99th Division and 252nd Division.[5]

Following a ceasefire with Hamas that came into effect on 19 January 2025, Israel withdrew from parts of the Netzarim Corridor on 27 January.[6][7] Israel completely withdrew its troops from the corridor on 9 February 2025.[8] Large crowds of displaced Gazans were then able to cross through and return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip.[9][10] However, the IDF returned to the Corridor on 19 March after the ceasefire broke down.[11]

Background

Netzarim was an Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip which was built in 1972 and dismantled in 2005 during the Israeli disengagement from the territory.[12] The IDF captured the site of the former settlement during the 2008-2009 Gaza War, which ended with a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.[13][14]

The IDF named the present corridor after Netzarim, since it includes the site of the former settlement.[15]

History

Invasion of the Gaza Strip

See also: Netzarim Corridor clashes

Israel invaded the Gaza strip on 27 October 2023 as a response to the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel three weeks prior. On 30 October 2023, IDF troops were confirmed to have entered the area of the former Netzarim settlement.[16][17][18] By 6 November, the IDF "had cut an informal, winding track" across the Gaza Strip which reached to the coast.[3] On 24 November, it was reported that the IDF would "continue administrative and logistical movements on the Netzarim axis and coastal road in the northern Gaza Strip".[19]

Satellite imagery from 6 March 2024 showed that a 4 miles (6.4 km) long partially paved road, numbered Route 749,[20] had been constructed within the corridor. Approximately 1.2 miles (1.9 km) of the road consists of pavement that existed prior to the Gaza war, with Israel clearing a path through the entire width of the strip. The IDF also repaired portions that were destroyed by armored vehicles and reinforced it with multiple lanes for various types of military vehicles.[2][21] Satellite imagery from 24 May 2024 showed new pavement had been laid over gravel roads since 18 May 2024 up to the intersection with the Salah al-Din Road.[22]

According to the Institute for the Study of War, in July 2024 Israel increased the width of the corridor from 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to 4 kilometres (2.5 mi).[23]

On 17 August 2024, two Israeli soldiers of the Jerusalem Brigade's 8119th Battalion were killed in the Netzarim Corridor by a Hamas ambush which included a roadside bomb and militants firing on the convoy.[24]

Iran claimed that it successfully hit the Netzarim Corridor as part of its October 2024 Iranian airstrikes on Israel.[25][26] The claim has not been confirmed by Israel nor any Western analyst.[27]

Between September and November 2024, Israeli soldiers demolished over 600 buildings around the road to create a buffer zone, in addition to increasing the presence of outposts, communication towers, and defensive fortifications.[28]

On 18 December 2024, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published the testimonies of commanders and officers of the 252nd Division and the 99th Division about the Netzarim Corridor being a "kill zone" with arbitrary lines where every Palestinian is shot for being a suspected terrorist. One officer claimed that a report of 200 killed Hamas militants was wrong since "of those 200 casualties, only ten were confirmed as known Hamas operatives".[29]

Ceasefire

Further information: 2025 Israel–Hamas war ceasefire

As part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that came into effect on 19 January 2025, Israel agreed to gradually withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor.[30][31]

On 25 January, Hamas failed to release a hostage scheduled for transfer to Israel under the ceasefire's prisoner exchange. As a result, Israel suspended its planned opening up of the Netzarim Corridor. However, the release of the hostage was later arranged and Israel opened up the western part of the corridor on the morning of 27 January, with large crowds of displaced Gazans returning to the north.[9][10] The IDF also began withdrawing from the part that was opened.[32][33][6][7] American and Egyptian security contractors, working under an Egyptian-Qatari committee tasked with implementing the ceasefire, began inspecting vehicles moving through the area.[34] Hamas militants were also later seen stationed at the Netzarim Corridor.[35][36] On 9 February 2025, Israel fully withdrew its troops from the Netzarim Corridor.[8][37]

Resumption of hostilities

On 18 March, the security contractors left the corridor before dawn, when the IDF initiated a "focused ground operation" in central Gaza with the intention of creating a "partial buffer zone" and to re-take the Netzarim Corridor bisecting the Gaza Strip, after launching attacks across Gaza, killing over 400 and ending the ceasefire.[38][39][40] On March 19, Israeli forces returned and recaptured the central part of the corridor.[11][41]

References

  1. ^ "Israel will use Netzarim Corridor in Gaza for a year: army". The New Arab. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b "The Netzarim Corridor: the controversial military infrastructure that divides Gaza", Fatshimetrie 9 March 2024
  3. ^ a b Morris, Loveday; Granados, Samuel; Hill, Evan; Balousha, Hazem (17 May 2024). "What Israel's strategic corridor in Gaza reveals about its postwar plans". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024.
  4. ^ Henderson, Cameron (10 April 2024). "Israel kills 'numerous' gunmen in battle for 'Gaza corridor'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  5. ^ "The Netzarim Corridor: A case study for Israel's lack of vision in Gaza - analysis". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 27 January 2025. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Iran Update, January 27, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  7. ^ a b Isaac, David (28 January 2025). "Arabs return to northern Gaza as IDF pulls out of Netzarim Corridor". JNS.org. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  8. ^ a b Jakes, Lara; Odenheimer, Natan (9 February 2025). "Israeli Troops Withdraw From Netzarim Corridor in Gaza". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  9. ^ a b Halabi, Einav; Eichner, Itamar; Kimon, Elisha Ben (27 January 2025). "Netzarim Corridor opens, crowds of Gazans move north". Ynetnews. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  10. ^ a b "Hamas official confirms Palestinians have begun returning to northern Gaza via Netzarim Corridor". The Times of Israel. 27 January 2025.
  11. ^ a b Shurafa, Wafaa; Frankel, Julia; Magdy, Samy (19 March 2025). "Israel launches a ground operation to retake part of a key corridor in northern Gaza". citynews.ca. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  12. ^ "Israel completes Gaza withdrawal". The Guardian. 22 August 2005.
  13. ^ "Hamas agrees to 1-week ceasefire". CBC News. 18 January 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  14. ^ "Last Israeli troops 'leave Gaza'". BBC. 21 January 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  15. ^ Celine Alkhaldi, Allegra Goodwin and Richard Allen Greene "Israeli road splitting Gaza in two has reached the Mediterranean coast, satellite imagery shows" CNN March 8, 2024
  16. ^ Berger, Miriam; Harb, Hajar; Booth, William (31 October 2023). "Israel tanks penetrate deep into Gaza, as Hamas hostage video emerges". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  17. ^ Kelly, Meg; Piper, Imogen; Hill, Evan; Lee, Joyce Sohyun; Karklis, Laris (30 October 2024). "Mapping Israel's ground assault into Gaza". The Washington Post.
  18. ^ Kottasová, Ivana (30 October 2023). "Israeli ground operation seemingly intensifying in Gaza, CNN crews report". CNN.
  19. ^ Jhaveri, Ashka; Parry, Andie; Mills, Peter; Ganzeveld, Annika (24 November 2023). "IRAN UPDATE, NOVEMBER 24, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  20. ^ Forey, Samuel; Imbert, Louis (7 March 2024). "Israel-Hamas war: Gaza City has been reduced to hunger and chaos". Le Monde. Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  21. ^ Alkhaldi, Celine; Goodwin, Allegra; Greene, Richard Allen (8 March 2024). "Israeli road splitting Gaza in two has reached the Mediterranean coast, satellite imagery shows". CNN. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  22. ^ Monks, Kieron (5 June 2024). "Israel building watchtowers and outposts in Gaza in sign of post-war ambitions". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  23. ^ Fitzpatrick, Kitaneh; Parry, Andie; Wells, Katherine; Kishore, Siddhant; Tyson, Kathryn; Moore, Johanna; Carter, Brian (2 July 2024). "IRAN UPDATE, JULY 2, 2024". Institute for the Study of War.
  24. ^ Fabian, Emanual (17 August 2024). "Army says a second reserve soldier was killed by roadside bomb in Gaza". The Times of Israel.
  25. ^ Gritten, David (2 October 2024). "Iran launches more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel". BBC. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  26. ^ "Iran hits Israel's Netzarim military facility and Tel Nof intelligence unit". Tehran Times. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  27. ^ Roth, Andrew (5 October 2024). "Escalation with Iran could be risky: Israel is more vulnerable than it seems". The Observer.
  28. ^ Boxerman, Aaron (2 December 2024). "Israel Builds Bases in Central Gaza, a Sign It May Be There to Stay". The New York Times.
  29. ^ Kubovich, Yaniv (18 December 2024). "'No Civilians. Everyone's a Terrorist': IDF Soldiers Expose Arbitrary Killings and Rampant Lawlessness in Gaza's Netzarim Corridor". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 23 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  30. ^ "Iran Update, January 17, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  31. ^ Al Jazeera Staff. "What do we know about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal in Gaza?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  32. ^ "IDF begins withdrawing from Netzarim Corridor - report". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 27 January 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  33. ^ "Video shows Israeli troops withdrawing from Netzarim". Al Jazeera. 27 January 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  34. ^ Fabian, Emanuel (28 January 2025). "Security contractors check for weaponry in cars returning to northern Gaza". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
  35. ^ "Hamas' armed wing greets displaced Palestinians after ceasefire". NBC News. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  36. ^ "A defiant Hamas displays its authority in Gaza, posing a challenge to Netanyahu". NBC News. 28 January 2025. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  37. ^ "Israeli retreat from Netzarim corridor shows failure: Hamas". TRT World. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  38. ^ Rowlands, Lyndal (19 March 2025). "Outrage as Israeli attacks break Gaza ceasefire, killing hundreds". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  39. ^ Krever, Mick; Izso, Lauren; Edwards, Christian (19 March 2025). "Israel launches first ground offensive since end of Gaza ceasefire, partially recapturing key area". CNN. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  40. ^ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/19/israel-launches-limited-ground-operation-to-retake-netzarim-corridor-in-gaza
  41. ^ Frantzman, Seth J. (19 March 2025). "Return to Netzarim: IDF heads back to strategic corridor - analysis". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 19 March 2025.

31°28′11″N 34°25′54″E / 31.4697°N 34.4316°E / 31.4697; 34.4316

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