The Israeli army said it practically control of the entire Philadelphia axis

Israel’s military said on Wednesday its forces had seized a buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, meaning Israel effectively controls the entire Palestinian territory’s land border.

Israel has also continued its strikes on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip despite an order by the International Court of Justice to halt attacks on the city, where half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have already sought refuge.

In a televised statement, senior IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces had achieved operational control of the Philadelphia axis along the Gaza-Egypt border, using Israel’s name for the 14-kilometer corridor.

“The Philadelphia axis was an oxygen line for Hamas, which has been using it to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip area,” Hagari said.

Hagari didn’t elaborate on what operational control meant, but an Israeli military official earlier said there were Israeli forces on the ground along parts of the corridor.

The border with Egypt along the southern tip of the Gaza Strip is the only land border in the Strip that hasn’t been under direct Israeli control.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel sent tanks to carry out attacks across Rafah and said its war on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip was likely to continue throughout the year.

Israeli tanks advanced into the heart of Rafah for the first time on Tuesday, although the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt the assault on the city.

In its ruling on Friday, the International Court of Justice said Israel hadn’t made clear how it would keep the evacuated Rafah residents safe and how it would provide them with food, water and medicine.

In its ruling, the court also called on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages it seized on Oct. 7.

Residents in Rafah said Israeli tanks penetrated into Tal al Sultan in the west of Rafah, in Yebna and near Shaboura in the center before retreating to a buffer zone near the border with Egypt instead of remaining in positions as in other attacks.

On the other hand, the Israeli military said three soldiers were killed and three others seriously wounded in fighting in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, without giving further details.

Israel’s public broadcaster Radio Kann reported that this was the result of an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in a building in Rafah.