Israeli forces seize entire land frontier of Gaza

Israel claims control of Gaza's strategic border corridor with Egypt, saying it destroyed Hamas tunnels, but Egypt denies the allegations amid rising tensions.

The Israeli military confirmed that it has seized control of the entire Philadelphi Corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt, putting its forces in charge of the entire perimeter of the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli military spokesman said, “Its forces have achieved operational control of the sliver of territory, which is only about 100 meters wide in places. ”He said the corridor had provided a “lifeline” through which Hamas had been bringing weapons into the Gaza Strip via tunnels.

In recent days, the spokesman reported that Israeli troops found and eliminated approximately twenty tunnels that were being used for weapons transportation. But, he could not state whether all of the tunnels extended into Egypt or not.

This announcement raises the conflict level with Egypt which has denied the accusations of Israel. Egyptian television cited sources saying that Israel is trying to invent the allegations to justify its continued military campaign in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Egypt has in the past claimed that it closed all the cross-border tunnels making it difficult for weapons to be smuggled in from its side of the border. A ‘senior’ Egyptian official criticized the Israeli strategy as an attempt to continue the war in the Gaza Strip for political reasons.

Israel maintains that it can only win the war against Hamas that began on October 7th by taking control of Rafah at the border with Egypt. The Palestinian health ministry, run by Hamas, estimates that at least 36,170 Palestinians have died in Gaza since then.

Tensions between the two neighbours have escalated in the recent past with one Egyptian soldier killed in a recent clash with the Israeli forces at Rafah. Egypt has criticized the killing of Palestinian civilians in the Israeli operations.

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Thus, being in support of Palestinians, Egypt has had its siege on Gaza since Hamas seized power in 2006. It has also facilitated failed negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and holds Israeli hostages in Gaza.