<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Israeli forces have taken control of a buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the country's military said on Wednesday, giving Israel effective authority over the Palestinian territory's entire land border.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Israel also continued deadly raids on Rafah in southern Gaza despite an order from the International Court of Justice to end attacks on the city, where half of Gaza's 2.3 million people had previously taken refuge.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a televised briefing, chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces had gained "operational" control over the "Philadelphi Corridor", using the Israeli military's code name for the 14 km-long (9 mile) corridor along the Gaza Strip's only border with Egypt.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The Philadelphi Corridor served as an oxygen line for Hamas, which it regularly used to smuggle weapons into the area of the Gaza Strip," Hagari said. Hamas is the armed Palestinian group that governs the blockaded territory. - Reuters</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>