Benjamin Netanyahu: IDF creating "Morag corridor" to further break up Gaza Strip

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement today (Wednesday) announcing the purpose of the IDF operation last night in the southern Gaza Strip - to create a new "Morag corridor" to further break up the region and put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.

In his statement, Netanyahu said that the IDF is building up the pressure in the Gaza Strip - eliminating terrorists and destroying terrorist infrastructure - but that the operation last night in the Gaza Strip was also aimed at creating a new corridor like the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors, with the aim of further dividing and conquering Hamas forces in the area.

This new corridor, which Netanyahu named the Morag corridor, divides the city of Khan Yunis from the city of Rafah, in much the same way that the Netzarim corridor - which has not yet been entirely reoccupied - divides Gaza City in the northern Strip from the rest of the area.

This operation, combined with the gradual expansion of the areas the IDF holds inside the Strip as part of a "security perimeter," are part of an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages on Israel's terms by seizing and occupying more and more territory as a bargaining chip.

Israel is also hoping that the gradual depletion of food and supplies within the Strip will further pressure Hamas and lead to even more protests against its rule, thus making it more flexible in hostage negotiations.