Route 749 (), also known as the Cross-Gaza Highway () or Netzarim Corridor () is an east–west road in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

, bisecting the strip into northern and southern parts. The road was built by the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

during the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

in 2023 to facilitate Israeli military operations within the Strip.

Route and purpose

The road begins near Kibbutz

Be'eri Be'eri () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the north-western Negev desert near the eastern border with the Gaza Strip, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . During the massacre in ...

in Israel and travels west through the entire

before reaching the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. The road is parallel to the northern border of the strip, bisecting the area into north and south. According to the commander of the IDF's 601st Battalion, the purpose of the route is the to "protect the area, advance towards enemy territory, prevent the passage from the south to the north and to control it very precisely". In February 2024, the IDF's

Combat Engineering Corps The Israeli Combat Engineering Corps (, ''Heil HaHandasa HaKravit'') is part of the Israel Defense Forces with responsibility for mobility assurance, road breaching, defense and fortifications, counter-mobility of enemy forces, construction and ...

and 601st Battalion operated dozens of engineering vehicles and dirt trucks to begin the route's paving process. To help with this process, stone factories were opened in the area, where crushed stones acted as a base for paving the road. By March 6, satellite images showed that the IDF had completed the paving of the route. According to the Israeli Army Radio, the road is designed to be built for travel at speeds of up to , and is not just built for

armoured personnel carriers An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

, but also for regular vehicles. On 25 April 2024, the paving of the road was completed, so that a trip along the entire route takes about 8 minutes.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in the Gaza Strip Gaza Strip in the Israel–Hamas war Military roads Siege of North Gaza