TEL AVIV—One of the first things Israel did when it invaded Gaza in October last year was carve a dirt road across the middle of the strip. It was then wide enough for two armored vehicles. Today, it is a sprawling 18-square-mile zone.

       Inside the zone, called the Netzarim corridor after a former Israeli settlement, there are two military bases made up of trailer-sized mobile bomb shelters with water, electrical poles, cellular towers and a synagogue. The road is now paved, and soldiers zip along in open-top vehicles through an area the size of Tel Aviv.

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