Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reports that “one-quarter of a million Palestinians who called Rafah home can no longer have access to it.”

She continues: “Strategically speaking, this also means the two main crossings connecting the Gaza Strip to the world — the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing for commercial goods and humanitarian assistance and the Rafah border with Egypt, which allows people to leave or enter the enclave — are now off limits.”

Odeh reports that those crossings are beyond Palestinians’ reach and tighten the Israeli siege even more. “It also means Palestinians, 2.1 million of them, are now squeezed into about one-third of Gaza.”

She added that the UN estimates about 66 per cent of Gaza is already off-limits to Palestinians and Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has publicly stated the goal — since breaking the ceasefire with Hamas — is to apply pressure on the civilian population.

“He basically gave the population an ultimatum: topple Hamas and deliver the Israeli captives. Katz said that’s the only way to end the war,” Odeh reports.