Two sources for the information The Guardian and UPI
May 30 (UPI) — The Israeli military said its forces have gained control of Gaza’s so-called Philadelphi Corridor, ( the name used by Israel) a demilitarized buffer zone that runs along the eight-mile border between southern Gaza and Egypt that Israel says served as a Hamas “lifeline.”
The IDF says that it is in ‘operational’ control of the buffer zone on Egypt’s border, a move which risks complicating relations with Cairo, amid Rafah offensive
Hagari did not spell out what “operational” control referred to, but an Israeli military official earlier said there were Israeli “boots on the ground” along parts of the corridor
IDF claims:
The operation by the Israel Defense Forces‘ 162nd armored division as part of its ongoing offensive in Rafah captured 20 tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza and dozens of launch pits with loaded rocket launchers used to bombard Israeli territory, IDF Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a Wednesday night news briefing.
“Hamas exploited the Philadelphi Corridor, using it to build this infrastructure just dozens of meters from the border with Egypt so that we would not strike them. This infrastructure was located between 10 and 40 meters from the border, specifically so that Israel would not strike near the fence with Egypt.
The IDF further claims:
“I remind you that in recent weeks, Hamas has fired about 70 rockets and mortars from the Rafah area.”
Creating the perceptions. Israel is making these claims so they can present the numerous strikes on civilians in refugee camps as justified. All though it was the plan. I’m getting a narrative creation vibe that is deadly and dangerous. The US had prior knowledge of this move by Israel
“White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said seizure of the Philadelphi Corridor would be consistent with the “limited” ground operation Israeli officials briefed President Joe Biden’s team on for the city 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 told reporters on Wednesday.
Capturing the corridor means Israel now controls all of Gaza’s land borders.
Hagari refused to confirm an off-the-record comment by one of his colleagues stating that the tunnels straddled the border with Egypt.
Why wouldn’t Hagari confirm the veracity of off the record comments?
“I can’t say now that all of these tunnels cross into Egypt,” he said, explaining that troops were “investigating and neutralizing” the tunnels as they went along and that the intelligence would be shared with Egypt.
Egyptian media quoted sources rejecting the cross-border tunnel claims and accusing Israel of attempting to legitimize its military operation in Rafah and drag out the conflict for domestic “political purposes.”
“These lies reflect the magnitude of the crisis facing the Israeli government,” the official said.
“Israel continues its attempts to export lies about on-the-ground conditions for its forces in Rafah in order to obscure its military failure and to find an escape for its political crisis.”
“There is no truth to Israeli media reports of the existence of tunnels on the Egyptian border with Gaza,” the source told Al-Qahera, which is linked to state intelligence. “Israel is using these allegations to justify continuing the operation on the Palestinian city of Rafah and prolonging the war for political purposes.”
Egypt has previously said it has destroyed hundreds of cross-border tunnels with Gaza since 2013.
The tunnels row erupted as Israel named four soldiers killed in combat operations over the past two nights in the Dahaniya district of Rafah and northern Gaza as Staff Sgt. Amir Galilov; Staff Sgt. Uri Bar Or; Staff. Sgt. Ido Appel; and Staff Sgt. Yedidya Azugi.
Earlier this month, Israel and Egypt became embroiled in a diplomatic row after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seized control of the Rafah crossing. The capture of the corridor signals that Israel has deepened its offensive in southern Gaza and further threatens relations with Egypt.