Israel claims to have secured control of a crucial area in Gaza’s frontier with Egypt filled with tunnels for smuggling

By TIA GOLDENBERG, WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY

29/05/2024

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Wednesday it seized control of a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt to cut off smuggling tunnels as it tries to destroy the militant Hamas group in a war now in its eighth month.

The capturing of the Philadelphi Corridor could complicate Israel’s relationship with Egypt as Egypt has been displeased with Israel’s progress towards its frontier. Israel claims that the corridor is covered in tunnels through which are funneling weapons and other supplies to Hamas – in spite of a decades-long blockade that was imposed on the corridor by Israel in conjunction with Egypt.

Israel has also intensified its military incursion to Rafah, in the south of Gaza town of Rafah in which hundreds of thousands of people have sought refuge from the violence and the escalating violence over the last few days has claimed the lives of many Palestinians. The military announced it had received a five-brigadethat could be as large as a number of thousands of soldiers — accompanied forces in the city on Tuesday.

Egypt insists that any expansion of troops in the area of the strategic border could violate the country’s 1979 peace agreement. Already, it has expressed concern regarding Israel having taken over Rafah frontier crossing. It is which is the only border crossing that connects Gaza with Egypt.

“The Philadelphi Corridor served as the oxygen line of Hamas through which Hamas carried out weapons smuggling into Gaza on a regular basis,” stated Israel’s military chief spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

The Israeli military official claimed that Israel had informed Egypt of its taking over. The tunnels were found to be around 20 in total, with ones previously undiscovered to Israel discovered along with access points for tunnels, according to the official under condition of anonymity according to military regulations. It wasn’t clear whether the tunnels are currently being used.

The corridor is a part of an overall demilitarized zone spanning the entire border between Israel and Egypt. In accordance with the peace agreement the two sides are allowed to only deploy a tiny amount of border guards within the area however, the number of troops or border guards can be changed by a mutual agreement. In the days prior to the agreement, Israeli troops controlled Gaza until Israel removed its troops and settlers in the year 2005.

Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News TV reported there were “no communications with the Israeli side” concerning the claim of digging tunnels along the border. Egypt has expressed its concerns repeatedly about the Israeli offensive might push Palestinians over the linean idea that Egypt believes is unacceptable.

The narrow corridor — which is around 100 metres (yards) wide in some parts it runs along across the fourteen-kilometer (8.6-mile) distance along the Gaza portion of Gaza’s border to Egypt and also includes Egypt’s Rafah crossing to Egypt.

Hamas has enjoyed full control of the border since its control of Gaza.

Tunnels for smuggling were constructed under the border between Egypt and Gaza in order to bypass the Israeli-Egyptian blockade that was which was imposed following Hamas was in control. The tunnels are sufficient for cars. Hamas brought weapons and other items, and Gaza residents were able to smuggle into commercial items, ranging from livestock to construction supplies.

The situation has changed in the last decade in the past decade, as Egypt faced Islamic militants from Sinai. The Egyptian military smashed down tunnels and destroyed hundreds of them.

An Israeli military official stated that Israel has also established “tactical control” of Tel al-Sultan which is a neighborhood located in Rafah’s northwest. However, he added that the infiltration into the city was only a “limited scope and scale operation.”

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said seizure of the Philadelphi Corridor would be consistent with the “limited” ground operation Israeli officials briefed President Biden’s team about in the town of Rafah.

“When they briefed us on their plans for Rafah it did include moving along that corridor and out of the city proper to put pressure on Hamas in the city,” Kirby said to reporters on Wednesday.

As the violence continued, it was deadly. According to the Gaza Health Ministry said an apparent Israeli strike caused the deaths of two ambulance workers in their journey to evacuate injured people within Tel al-Sultan.

A few hours earlier, a top Israeli official claimed that the war is likely to be ongoing until the close of the yearan unsettling warning for a conflict which has killed many thousands of people, increased Israel’s isolation from the world and pushed the region towards the edge of an even larger fire.

Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, said on Kan public radio that he is “expecting another seven months of fighting” to take down the capabilities of the military and government of Hamas as well as its lesser Islamic Jihad militant group.

The army has declared that from the beginning that the “war will be long,” the general said. “They have designated 2024 as a year of war.”

Hanegbi’s comments raise doubts regarding the direction of Gaza and the role Israel can play in its. It is the United States, Israel’s top allies, has demanded that the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu decide on a postwar plan for the Palestinian area. The defense ministry of Netanyahu as well as a top political partner have advised him Netanyahu to take action to ensure Israel does not remain in Gaza for a long time.

This war already ravaged Gaza’s urban landscape, forced the displacement of the majority of its inhabitants and caused a humanitarian crisis as well as massive hunger. The war has opened Israel for international legal examination and has led to the world’s courts criticizing Israel for its wartime behavior as well as sparked disputes over President Obama’s White House, and on Tuesday, it prompted three European nations to acknowledge an official Palestinian State.

Israel insists that it will remove Hamas its last brigades in Rafah and will pursue an indefinite security presence on in the Gaza Strip, even after the war is over. It is still not able to accomplish its primary goal of removing Hamas and releasing scores of hostages seized during Hamas the Oct. 7 attack that started the conflict..

Above Rafah, Israeli forces were still fighting militants in areas in Gaza the military said they took control of a few months ago. There are indicators of a small-scale insurgency that may keep Israeli forces within the region.

The conflict in Rafah has forced the displacement of one million residents, according to the United Nations says, most of whom had already been relocated from other areas of Gaza.

Residents claimed that fighting was taking place in the city’s central area and in the outskirts of Tel al-Sultan, the same neighborhood in which an Israeli strike last weekend set off a blaze that spread across an encampment for refugees and killed many. Israel confirmed that it was conducting an investigation and believed that the fire may be caused by an additional explosion.

A floating pier constructed in the U.S. to surge aid into the region was damaged by terrible weather and was another setback to efforts to feed hungry Palestinians. The Gaza land border crossings are completely managed by Israel.

The U.S. and other allies have urged against a full-on offensive in Rafah and the Biden administration stating that it is the “red line” and refusing to supply offensive arms in the event of such an operation. However, so far, it hasn’t attempted to stop Israel’s advance.

This week this week, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its offensive against Rafah in South Africa’s legal case, which accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians from Gaza the Gaza Strip, a claim Israel is denying.

The conflict started when militants invaded the southern part of Israel on October. 7, killing around 1200 people, a majority of civilians, as well as taking approximately 250 hostages. Over 100 hostages were released in a cease-fire agreement in November as a payment for Palestinians who were detained by Israel.

Israel’s military its response to attacks has claimed the lives of 36,096 Palestinians According the the Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians. Israel claims to have been able to kill 15,000 of the militants.

Shurafa reporting in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip Shurafa reported from Gaza Strip, Deir al-Balah, and Magdy out of Cairo. AP reporter Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.