Israel’s military has taken control of the buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border known as the Philadelphi Corridor, meaning that Israel now controls Gaza’s entire land border.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said about 20 tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza had been found within the zone.
Egyptian TV quoted sources denying this, and said Israel was trying to justify its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Meanwhile, the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza has decreased by two-thirds since Israel began its military operation in Rafah earlier this month, according to the UN.
Israel has insisted that it must take Rafah to achieve victory in the war triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on the country on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 252 others were taken hostage.
At least 36,170 people have been killed across Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
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