By Guardian - Ruth Michaelson - Sat 20 Jul 2024 19.36 BST

Satellite images and social media video uploaded by Israeli soldiers stationed around the city show roads widened for armoured vehicles surrounded by total destruction, including buildings razed to the ground in the once bustling city.

In the months before the Israeli invasion, Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah was a lifeline, a place where thousands sought shelter or scrabbled to raise funds to cross into neighbouring Egypt.

Social media video and satellite images show the destruction of the Rafah crossing point, previously the last remaining passenger route out of Gaza, after Israeli forces seized control of the area in early May. Soon afterwards, Israel said it had “operational control” of the entire Philadelphi corridor, a slim strip of land that runs next to the border with Egypt, where an Israeli presence is prohibited by the 1979 peace treaty between the two nations.

Israeli forces also built a new road between the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossing points, known as David’s Pass, and widened parts of the road running along the Philadelphi corridor, to smooth the way for military vehicles. A social media video uploaded by an Israeli soldier standing next to the Mediterranean, in an area once dotted with tents, shows a makeshift Israeli watchtower in the shadow of one that was until recently used by Egyptian soldiers, and a cluster of military bulldozers and construction equipment.

The moves appear designed to support the long-term presence of Israeli troops in Gaza, signalling little end to a war that has already lasted over nine months, the longest in Israel’s history.

“It’s almost a forever war,” said Nadav Weiman, the head of Breaking the Silence, an organisation of Israeli veterans critical of the state and military’s policies.

Rafah, previously a city of about 200,000 people, swelled as more than a million more sought shelter, huddling close to Gaza’s sole southern crossing point, a beacon for those able to leave until Israeli forces took control and then destroyed the crossing. This choked off the supply of aid that flowed in through southern Gaza. Since early May, no aid trucks have entered Rafah, while UN data shows that fewer than 2,500 trucks have entered the enclave in three months, a fraction of the relief required.

The changes to Rafah are in line with Israeli military construction elsewhere in Gaza, including bulldozing a buffer zone around the border with Israeli territory and construction of the Netzarim corridor, which bisects the territory and cuts off Gaza City from population centres to the south. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz estimates that Gaza has now lost about 26% of its territory to the military as a result of these changes.

When asked whether Israeli troops would continue to occupy the Philadelphi corridor long term, the Israel Defense Forces said it “does not comment on operational plans”.

Israel’s activities in Rafah have disturbed its allies in Cairo and in Washington, blowing past the red lines previously set by US president Joe Biden, who warned in May that he would decline to supply offensive weaponry if Israel were to “go into Rafah.”

A serving Egyptian officer who spoke to the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, a monitoring group, told them it was the “saddest day of my life,” when he was instructed to withdraw his troops from the Egyptian side of the Philadelphi corridor. The Egyptian military, he believed, feared further confrontations similar to an exchange of fire between the two forces that occurred in late May which killed two Egyptian soldiers.

“I was taught that this corridor is forbidden for any Israeli military presence,” he said, adding that Egypt’s top military brass and political leaders had long referred to it “as a red line”.

The presence of Israeli troops in Rafah, particularly in the Philadelphi corridor, also endangers already fragile peace negotiations, as Hamas have demanded the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Israel is continuing to negotiate, but seeks an agreement that would allow them to maintain a presence in Gaza even with a temporary lull in fighting.

“It’s possible that this is a tactic for negotiations,” said Ahmed Salem, who heads the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights. “Hamas understands the value of the corridor, and controlling the Rafah crossing is one of their most important financial resources.”

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a highly symbolic visit to the Rafah crossing in recent days, inspecting a lookout point at the Philadelphi corridor, shortly before flying to Washington to address Congress and meet Biden.

He described an understanding “that our holding the Philadelphi corridor and the Rafah crossing are vital for the future”. Israeli military pressure, he claimed, is a way to advance a deal to free an estimated 116 hostages still held by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza. “This double pressure is not delaying the deal – it is advancing it,” he said.

Netanyahu has insisted that Israel must continue to battle Hamas, despite calls for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal now even coming from the highest levels of the IDF. He said recently “I don’t intend to end the war before every goal has been achieved”, and has mentioned continuing fighting until next year.

David Mencer, a spokesperson for Netanyahu, said: “With the intensive phase of this war coming to an end, the prime minister talks about a longer conflict, the necessity to go into Gaza to defeat terrorists when they raise their heads as needs be.”

He added: “He doesn’t talk about an unending war. All Israelis want the war to end as soon as possible, we’re not suicidal.”