In a major operational milestone, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have completed the encirclement of Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, after securing the vital “Morag Corridor.” This maneuver, implemented by the 36th Division with its elite Golani Infantry Brigade and the 188th Armored Brigade, is a key step in Israel’s effort to dismantle Hamas’s operational infrastructure and secure the territory bordering Egypt. The IDF’s action — announced by military officials and verified by field deployments — marks a turning point in the ongoing ‘Iron Swords’ campaign, intensifying military pressure on Hamas while trying to prevent the group’s resupply and escape through Egypt.
The operation’s objective was to seize and control the area once known as the Morag settlement, eliminated during Israel’s 2005 disengagement from Gaza. Situated along a critical axis in southern Gaza, the corridor serves both strategic and tactical purposes: it blocks Hamas’s potential reinforcements and cuts off smuggling routes, especially those utilizing the cross-border tunnels that have long formed the backbone of the Iranian-backed terror group’s arsenal.
For weeks, IDF forces have fought through densely urbanized territory on the outskirts of Rafah, facing entrenched fighters, concealed tunnel openings, booby-trapped buildings, and civilian shields deployed by Hamas. The Golani Brigade led ground assaults, clearing residential blocks, neutralizing ambushes, and dismantling explosives. Meanwhile, the 188th Armored Brigade provided critical support, leveraging Merkava tanks for breaching maneuvers and area security. Specialized engineering and intelligence units uncovered and destroyed tunnel networks, seizing weapons caches and technical equipment — much of it supplied by Iran, underscoring the transnational nature of the threat.
The ISF’s advance has effectively isolated Rafah from northern and central Gaza, while also squeezing Hamas operatives into an ever-narrowing pocket along the Egyptian border. The IDF’s stated objectives include collapsing Hamas’s command hierarchy, neutralizing militant capabilities, and eliminating the city’s strategic value for terror operations. The seizure of this corridor also aims to sever the Philadelphi Corridor — a strip along the Egypt-Gaza boundary — from further exploitation by Hamas, cutting off illicit arms flows and the movement of high-value militants. Field commanders briefed that dozens of tunnel shafts, weapons stores, and booby-trapped hideouts have already been neutralized, reducing the group’s capacity for resistance and guerrilla attacks.
This tactical victory carries broader strategic implications. Rafah is not only Hamas’s last urban stronghold, but also a symbolic center for its leadership, logistics, and media output. Its proximity to Egypt renders it a geopolitical flashpoint, complicated by Cairo’s concerns over border integrity and the risk of mass displacement among Gaza residents. While the battlefield developments intensify, Israeli officials emphasize ongoing efforts to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, with special provisions for safe civilian movement coordinated through international organizations. However, independent field reports and Israeli military intelligence both indicate that Hamas systematically impedes evacuation, weaponizes civilian infrastructure, and conducts operations from within protected sites — a strategy that drives civilian casualties and international criticism.
The encirclement comes nearly eight months after the October 7th massacre, when thousands of armed terrorists, operating under Hamas command and with direct Iranian support, breached Israeli borders, perpetrating mass murder, abductions, and destruction on an unprecedented scale. The attack, the deadliest on Jews since the Holocaust, resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 people and the capture of more than 250 hostages, many of whom remain held under dire conditions. The fate of these hostages remains integral to Israel’s war aims, with military operations conducted alongside persistent diplomatic and intelligence efforts to secure their release. Hamas, meanwhile, continues to leverage hostages as bargaining chips, demanding the release of convicted terrorists in exchange.
Israeli leaders frame the current offensive as part of a wider regional struggle against the Iranian-led network of terror organizations. The Gaza campaign is but one front in a campaign that also stretches to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen — all areas where Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-backed groups have sought to challenge Israel’s security and regional stability. The IDF maintains that success in Rafah will help degrade the operational coherence of these proxies and send a powerful message to Tehran: the days of using Gaza as an armed Iranian enclave are ending.
Militarily, the encirclement of Rafah changes the ground dynamics. With main supply routes severed, Hamas’s ability to launch counter-attacks or escape into Egypt is neutralized. The next phase, officials suggest, will focus on intensive clearing operations to fully dismantle Hamas command centers and uncover hidden infrastructure, always with an eye towards minimizing both IDF and civilian casualties.
The international response to Israel’s advance has been mixed. The United States and some European nations support Israel’s right to self-defense but urge restraint and the facilitation of humanitarian relief. United Nations agencies have called for ceasefires and expressed concern for displaced Gaza residents, while Israeli authorities insist that Hamas’s entrenchment is the principal obstacle to peace and recovery. Despite humanitarian pressures, international law experts and military analysts generally recognize Israel’s efforts to communicate evacuation instructions and to minimize noncombatant exposure — a complexity often erased in global headlines, but crucial for historical understanding.
For Israel, the war is existential: failure to neutralize Hamas and close its cross-border lifelines would leave millions of citizens vulnerable to renewed mass murder, rocket attack, and hostage-taking. The completion of the Rafah encirclement is a statement of intent — that security, the return of abductees, and the dismantling of terror infrastructure are non-negotiable priorities. As the campaign moves into its critical final phase, soldiers on the ground carry the weight of national survival — and with it, the memory of October 7th.
The world’s eyes remain fixed on Rafah, Gaza’s last redoubt for Hamas and a crucible for the outcome of the Iranian proxy war. Whether the conclusion brings relief and reconstruction, or prolonged conflict and instability, will be determined by events shaped in the coming days and weeks — with Israel resolute in its commitment: when it fights, terror loses.
