Israel cuts off Gaza's southern city of Rafah, vows to 'vigorously' expand in territory
Tel Aviv, Israel (AP): Israel announced Saturday it has completed construction of a new security corridor that cuts off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, as the military said it would soon expand “vigorously” in most of the small coastal territory. Palestinians were further squeezed into shrinking areas of land.
“Soon, (military) activity will expand rapidly to additional locations throughout most of Gaza and you will have to evacuate the fighting zones,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, without saying where Palestinians were meant to go.
The statement urged Palestinians to stand up and remove Hamas and release the remaining hostages, saying, “This is the only way to stop the war." There was no immediate response from Hamas.
Israeli troops were deployed last week to the new security corridor referred to as Morag, the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, after the army ordered sweeping evacuations covering most of Rafah, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation.
Israel has vowed to seize large parts of Gaza to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, 24 of them believed to be alive, and accept proposed new ceasefire terms.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has also imposed a month long blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left the territory's roughly two million Palestinians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle -- a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime.
Israel has claimed that enough supplies entered Gaza during the two-month ceasefire that it shattered last month. Aid groups have disputed that.
Netanyahu has said Morag would be “a second Philadelphi corridor,” referring to the Gaza side of the border with Egypt farther south, which has been under Israeli control since May 2024. Israel has also reasserted control of the Netzarim corridor, which cuts off Gaza's northern third from the rest of the territory.
The corridors, coupled with a buffer zone that Israel has razed and expanded, give it more than 50 per cent control of the territory.
Katz said Palestinians interested in “voluntarily” relocating to other countries would be able to as part of a proposal by US President Donald Trump. Palestinians have rejected the proposal and expressed their determination to remain in their homeland.
Trump and Israeli officials have not said how they would respond if Palestinians refuse to leave Gaza. But Human Rights Watch and other groups say the plan would amount to “ethnic cleansing” -- the forcible relocation of the civilian population of an ethnic group from a geographic area.
Many Palestinians have been crowding into squalid tent camps or the rubble of their previous homes, often displacing multiple times in response to Israel's evacuation orders since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, killed some 1,200 people, many of them civilians, and sparked the war.
Israel on Saturday ordered the evacuation of areas east of Khan Younis ahead of an attack. Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee added that fighter group had fired rockets into Israel from these areas.
Israeli strikes across Gaza continued, killing at least 21 people in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants but says most of the over 50,000 Palestinians killed in the war have been women and children.
The ministry said at least 1,500 people have been killed since Israel's surprise bombardment resumed the war last month.
Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters in the war, without providing evidence.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
