Israel in effective control of entire Gaza land border after taking Philadelphi Corridor in south

The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that it had established “operational control” over the entire so-called Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border, discovering dozens of rocket launchers and at least 20 cross-border smuggling tunnels there so far. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

At a press conference Wednesday evening, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that the now-captured strip of land, which runs for a total of 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) all along the Gaza-Egypt border, served as “Hamas’s oxygen pipeline” for smuggling weapons.

Along the corridor, adjacent to the southern city of Rafah, the IDF said it has located so far some 20 tunnels that cross into Egypt. Hamas has been known to use such tunnels to smuggle weapons into Gaza, something the IDF believes it can no longer do as the military controls the area.

Some of the tunnels were already known to the IDF, and others were discovered for the first time. Some have already been demolished, and Israel has also been updating Egypt on the developments. Another 82 tunnel shafts leading into the tunnels have been located in the Philadelphi Corridor area, according to the military.

IDF troops are now physically located in most of the corridor. There is a small section near the coast where ground forces are not present, but the IDF said it is controlling the area with surveillance and firepower.

Dozens of rocket launchers were also discovered along the corridor, some only a dozen meters from the Egypt border. The IDF said it believes Hamas positioned the rocket launchers along the corridor in an attempt to prevent Israel from striking them, thinking Israel would fear overshooting into Egypt.

“Our troops located along the axis dozens of primed launchers for rocket attacks, launching pits used by Hamas to fire rockets and mortars at Israel,” Hagari said.

Hagari said Hamas “took advantage of the Philadelphi area, took advantage of it and built its infrastructure just dozens of meters from the border with Egypt, so that we won’t strike there.”

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The rocket launchers were located between 10 and 40 meters from the Egyptian border, “in a way that Israel won’t strike there on the fence with Egypt,” Hagari said, noting that some 70 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel from the Rafah area in recent weeks.

In response, the Egyptian state-affiliated Al-Qahera News TV quoted a “high-level” source saying that there is “no truth” to the reports of tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. The channel also quoted the source as saying there “are continued Israeli attempts to export lies around the on-ground situation of its forces in Rafah” in southern Gaza. czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn czn

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