Israel takes control of a key area of Gaza's border with Egypt

2024-05-30 08:30:21, Kosova & Bota CNA

Israel takes control of a key area of ??Gaza's border with Egypt

Israel's military said it has seized control of a strategic corridor along Gaza's border with Egypt to cut off the use of smuggling tunnels as it seeks to destroy Hamas - the Palestinian group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union - in the war that it is now in its eighth month.

Taking control of the Philadelphia Corridor could complicate Israel's relations with Egypt, as the latter has complained about Israeli advances towards its border. Israel said the corridor has tunnels through which weapons and other goods have been transported to Hamas - despite a years-long blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.

Israel also deepened its incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of people have taken refuge due to fighting in other parts of the enclave. In this city, violence has intensified in recent days, as dozens of Palestinians have been killed. The army said the fifth brigade - which has several thousand soldiers - on Tuesday joined troops operating in the city.

Egypt said any increase in the number of troops in the strategic border area would constitute a violation of the Peace Agreement Egypt and Israel reached in 1979. Egypt has already complained that Israel has taken over the Rafah border crossing, which is the only crossing point between Gaza. and Egypt.

"The Philadelphia Corridor has served as an oxygen line for Hamas, through which Hamas has smuggled weapons into Gaza on a regular basis," said Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari.

An Israeli army official said that Israel has notified Egypt of taking control of this area. Nearly 200 tunnels, including some previously unknown to Israel, were found as well as 82 entry points to the tunnels, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. It is not clear if these tunnels were recently used.

The corridor is part of a larger demilitarized zone along the entire border between Israel and Egypt. According to the Peace Agreement, each side is allowed to deploy only a small number of troops or border guards in this area, although the number of soldiers can be modified based on a bilateral agreement. At the time the agreement was reached, Israeli troops controlled Gaza, until Israel withdrew its troops and settlers in 2005.

State television in Egypt, Al-Qahera News TV reported that "there has been no communication with the Israeli side" regarding the claims of finding tunnels on the border. Egypt has repeatedly expressed concerns that the Israeli offensive could push Palestinians across the border, a scenario Egypt has said is unacceptable.

The narrow corridor – which in some parts is about 100 meters wide – is 14 kilometers long in the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, and passes through the Rafah crossing into Egypt.

Hamas has controlled the border since 2007, when it also took control of Gaza.

Smuggling tunnels were opened under the Gaza-Egypt border to circumvent the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas took control of Gaza. Some tunnels were so big that cars could pass through them. Hamas has smuggled weapons and other equipment, while Gazans have smuggled goods, from livestock to construction materials.

But that changed over the past decade, as Egypt battled Islamist militants in the Sinai. Egypt has destroyed hundreds of tunnels.

The Israeli army official said his country has "tactical control" of Tel al-Sultan, a neighborhood in the northwestern-most corner of Rafah. However, he said that the incursion into the city remains "on a limited scale".

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the capture of the Philadelphia Corridor would be consistent with the "limited" ground operation that Israeli officials have briefed US President Joe Biden's team on. the city of Rafah.

Meanwhile, earlier on Wednesday, Israel's national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said the war was likely to last throughout the year.

The war, which began on October 7 after Hamas attacked southern Israel, has already killed thousands of people. Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others during the unprecedented attack on Israeli soil. As a result of Israel's air, land and sea offensive, more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza so far, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Israel claims to have killed 15,000 militants./ REL