Israel Begins Demolition of Rafah to Create a Closed Buffer Zone
Massive destruction plan aims to erase Rafah from Gaza’s map, raising fears of a broader effort to turn the Strip into an open-air prison.
Watan-In a dangerous escalation, the Israeli occupation army has begun implementing an extensive plan to demolish the city of Rafah in southern Gaza and turn it into a completely closed “buffer zone”, as part of a systematic policy aimed at erasing the city entirely from the map of the Gaza Strip.
This plan is the latest manifestation of what observers describe as a genocidal war targeting the population of Gaza since the resumption of aggression on March 18.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli army leadership has devised a plan to transform the Rafah area—which once housed around 200,000 Palestinians before the war—into a militarized security zone where all civilian presence is prohibited. The report confirmed that the area between the Philadelphi Corridor and the Morag Axis represents about one-fifth of Gaza’s total area, and is now almost completely depopulated due to the scale of destruction.
Sealing Gaza: A Prison Behind Borders
The stated goal of this plan is to cut Gaza’s access to the Egyptian border, under the pretext of stopping weapons smuggling to the resistance. However, analysts argue that this move is part of a long-term Zionist project to transform Gaza into a completely enclosed and isolated enclave—cut off from the world and under direct Israeli control.
الاحـ ـتـ ـلال يشرع في محو مدينة #رفح كليّا من خريطة قطاع غـ ـزة..
ليحوّله إلى سجن كبير داخل الكيان المـ ـحتلّ، لا يربطه أيّ اتّصال أرضيّ بالعالم pic.twitter.com/zN4y76uvXG
— وطن. يغرد خارج السرب (@watanserb_news) April 9, 2025
The plan includes expanding the “Morag Axis” to a width of over a kilometer in some areas, as well as constructing permanent control and surveillance points, with orders to shoot anyone approaching the buffer zone. Military reports suggest that Netanyahu received a green light from Washington to proceed with this plan, amid deafening silence from both international and Arab actors.
There is growing concern that Rafah could mark the beginning of a broader project to erase all forms of civilian life in Gaza, turning the entire Strip into an open-air prison lacking the most basic elements of human existence.
