What is Netanyahu’s controversial ‘Morag Axis’ in Gaza mentioned in truce proposals?

Since last April, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, has referred to a part of the southern Gaza Strip as the  "Morag axis".

In a speech, he said that the Israeli army had successfully established a new ‘security corridor’ which effectively allowed them to take control of Rafah and cut it off from the rest of the devastated enclave after forcibly displacing its residents.

Since then, the name has cropped up in his speeches and in truce proposals.

Most recently, a 60-day truce proposal presented to Hamas outlined that the group should return the bodies of 18 captives in three batches, and in exchange the Israeli army "would withdraw from the Morag axis" and increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Strip.

For Palestinians, the recently coined term for the land is controversial and reflects a greater Israeli plan of cutting off areas and expanding the occupation.

Here, The New Arab explores the history behind the area and why the name has stirred anger.

Where is the 'Morag Axis'?

The area, which does not have a specific name in Arabic, is located between Khan Younis and Rafah in the south of the enclave and stretches from east to west.

The land is mainly agricultural, and throughout Israel’s war on Gaza, parts of it were designated as so-called humanitarian safe zones, where the Israeli army directed forcibly displaced Palestinians to seek shelter.

What is the meaning behind the name?

The name "Morag" has historical roots relating to the land’s agricultural nature. In Hebrew, the name means flail, which is a hand-held threshing tool used on land.

However, Netanyahu’s choice to use it is linked with an illegal Israeli settlement that was in the same area from 1972 to 2005.

Traditionally, Israeli settlements would often take their Hebrew names from agricultural themes that were common at the time.

For Israel, the name has a political weight to it, as it provides a familiar point of reference for the Israeli military and helps sell the government and army’s vision to the public.

The Israeli army has also tried to push the name in a way that highlights continuity with previous Israeli presence in the area and promotes new military infrastructure.

Why is Israel singling out this area?

Reports in Israeli media have indicated that Netanyahu’s labelling and mention of the area is part of a larger plan to divide Gaza and displace its population.

Israel's Channel12 in recent months said that separating Khan Younis and Rafah could potentially be a stepo implement US President Donald Trump’s widely condemned plan to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza.

Netanyahu has also previously said that Israel is trying to control the area to "divide" Gaza and to "increase pressure step by step so they will give us our hostages".

This comes after other attempts to control areas and put pressure on certain regions of the Strip, such as the Netzarim Corridor between Gaza City and central Gaza.

By taking over these key points, the Gaza population is restricted from moving between them and becoming more and more isolated.

After seizing control of the Philadelphi Corridor located along Gaza’s border with Egypt and Rafah and refusing to withdraw from it despite the previous temporary truce stipulating that they must, Netanyahu has also dubbed the Morag axis the "second Philadelphi".

'Living symbol of settler colonialism'

Shadi Shurafa, a Ph.D. candidate and researcher on Israeli affairs, told The New Arab that the Morag axis is not just the name of a settlement that was dismantled in 2005, but rather a "living symbol of settler colonialism and displacement".

"When the term "Morag Axis" is used to describe the area between Khan Younis and Rafah, we are not speaking about a road or a corridor, but about an attempt to impose a colonial logic on a land that is bleeding," he said.

"It separates the south from the north, severs people from one another, from their memories, and from what remains of hope. It is a military project with no aim other than to fragment Gaza into scattered enclaves, preparing the ground for a prolonged phase of population control, forced displacement, and total demographic erasure," he added.

According to Shurafa, such an axis is part of a wider "structure of genocide" that goes beyond killing civilians, and instead erases life through the changing of names, altering geographical locations, memories of people, and their right of return.

"What makes the scene even more harrowing is that this logic has terrifying historical roots. Just as the Nazis in Eastern Europe used concepts like 'lebensraum' (living space) and "safe corridors" to empty the land of its indigenous people and settle the "superior race," Israel today is doing the same," he said adding the only difference is modern language and advanced tools.

He reiterated that Palestinians reject the term ‘Morag Axis’ and will continue to defend the "right to be buried with our own names, not with the names of settlements".

Lamid Adoni, a Palestinian journalist and academic who led the launch of The New Arab said: "This is an expansion of Israeli control and occupation. This is not simply a Hebrew name; when Israel changes a name, it appropriates land and history. Israel has been changing the names of areas to erase history and to assert its illegal occupation of the land," she said.

What do Palestinians think about this?

Palestinians have firmly rejected any plan to divide Gaza, as well as to give parts of it Hebrew names.

In April, the Palestinian presidency lambasted Israel’s plan to take control of what Netanyahu called the Morag Axis.

The presidency said Netanyahu’s comments were a "true indication" of Israel’s intention to expand its occupation and split up the enclave.

It also added that Israel’s plans violate international laws, which state that Gaza has been an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967.

"The control of the Israeli occupation forces over the so-called Morag axis and cutting off the city of Rafah from the city of Khan Younis is nothing but a criminal scheme aimed at consolidating the occupation and a fragmentation of the Gaza Strip," a statement from the Palestinian government read.

On the ground, Palestinians have also explicitly rejected the forced displacement of people. According to Gaza’s government media office, the vast majority of the Gaza Strip’s population has been forcibly displaced from their homes by Israel's war.

Editor's note: This article was updated on 4 July to include comments from Shadi Shurafa and Lamis Adoni.