Gaza’s border sealed off as Israel says war will rage until end of year

Military has taken control of strip of land it claims is filled with tunnels used to smuggle weapons to Hamas

Children sit in the boot of a car as Palestinians walk amid the rubble of houses and shops destroyed in an Israeli strike yesterday in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters

Melanie Lidman, Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy

Israel’s military said it has seized control of a strategic corridor that runs along the length of Gaza’s border with Egypt, near the city of Rafah, where Israeli forces have been fighting.

The capture of the area, known as the Philadelphi corridor, gives Israel control over a strip of land it says is awash with smuggling tunnels that have funnelled weapons and other goods for Hamas, even under a years-long blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.