Israel to Expand Ground Operation, Take Over New Swathes of Gaza

Displaced Palestinians walk through a damaged part of the Islamic University campus  in Gaza City on April 16.

Photographer: Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images

The Israel Defense Forces said it is preparing to expand the area of its ground attacks in the Gaza Strip, seeking to tighten its grip on the war-ravaged enclave as hope for a new truce keeps fading.

The IDF is already expanding the Morag CorridorBloomberg Terminal, which the Israeli army has recently completed, according to the Arabic-speaking spokesman Avichay Adraee. The new route encircles Rafah in southern Gaza and makes the entire area between the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the border with Egypt, and Morag part of the Israeli security zone.