The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Thursday that it is banning travel "in any direction" on the Salah al-Din Highway, which connects northern and southern Gaza, and that travel is only possible "from north to south" of the enclave via the Al Rashid coastal road.
In practice, these restrictions mean that Gazans can no longer move from the south to the north of the enclave and can only travel south along the coastal road.
According to the IDF Arabic spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, who announced on his X account, the ban on using the highway inside the Strip in both directions and the restriction on one-way traffic on the coastal highway comes after Israel deployed troops in the center and south of the enclave yesterday.
He claims that this "limited" ground operation is intended to "expand the security zone between the northern and southern parts of the Strip."
During that ground operation, the IDF also deployed to the Netzarim Corridor military zone, which divides Gaza from east to west south of Gaza City.
Israel had withdrawn from this military area and security checkpoint on February 9 as one of the requirements of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which collapsed early Tuesday morning when negotiations for the release of the hostages failed, and an air operation against targets of the Islamic terrorist group Hamas began.
According to reports, the IDF intends to expand its control of Gaza's southern borders near the town of Khan Yunis and its northern borders near Beit Lahiya with this operation.
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article