Posted on 05/29/2024 11:10:39 AM PDT by SJackson
Israel’s military said Wednesday it has seized control of a strategic corridor that runs along the length of Gaza’s border with Egypt, near the city of Rafah, where Israeli forces have been fighting recently.
The capture of the area, known as the Philadelphi corridor, signals that Israel has deepened its offensive in southern Gaza, even as calls for restraint have rang out surrounding recent civilian deaths.
The move could complicate relations with Egypt, which has complained over Israel’s advance toward its border, including when Israeli forces captured the Rafah border crossing, the only one between Gaza and Egypt.
The corridor is part of a larger demilitarized zone along both sides of the entire Israel-Egypt border. Under a peace accord, each is allowed to deploy only a tiny number of troops or border guards in the zone. At the time of the accord, Israeli troops controlled Gaza, until Israel withdrew its forces and settlers in 2005.
The narrow corridor — about 100 meters (yards) wide in parts — runs the 14-kilometer (8.6-mile) length of the Gaza side of the border with Egypt and includes the Rafah crossing into Egypt.
Smuggling tunnels that run between Egypt and the Gaza Strip are known to stretch under the area.
Israel’s military had no further details about the move. Earlier Wednesday, a top Israeli official said that Israel’s war with Hamas is likely to last through the end of the year — a grim prediction for a conflict already in its eighth month that has killed tens of thousands, deepened Israel’s global isolation and brought the region repeatedly to the brink of a wider conflagration.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Nah, I'm pretty sure there are scores of additional crossings. They are just underground.
1. "...captured the Rafah border crossing, the only one between Gaza and Egypt..."
2. "...Smuggling tunnels that run between Egypt and the Gaza Strip are known to stretch under the area..."
Obviously, a few more crossings than were acknowledged.
Think of all the items that were smuggled in to build this tunnel system!
Civilian deaths. I refer them to the barbaric actions of 10/7/2023!
Let Hamass Disarm and Surrender.
Fighting will cease.
One, Rafah, was acknowledged. As many as fifty were not. My guess they were smuggling arms in and of late some high ranking terrorists out.
Those tunnels have never been a secret. Just nobody wanted to talk about them. US and foreign aid built them; UNWRA knew all about them. Israel didn’t really do much complaining about them either. Now, they have to be dismantled.
All of that time and money and effort could have gone to building a better society in Gaza.
Send the Gazans into the safety of the tunnels along with some Egyptian currency. Allow them to cross the border, when done, blow the tunnels. A large number of “Gazans” are Egyptians, like “Palistinian leader” Yashir Arafat.
I have been there to that border between Gaza and Egypt in 2006. Part of an Duty Section embassy day trip prior to working on a radio project.
Glab that Israel now has taken control from Hamas. I still fondly remember 2004-2006 living in Israel with my family. My wife was the Arrow Field Office program manager. Good weapons system.
“All of that time and money and effort could have gone to building a better society in Gaza.”
Not in the Palestinian playbook. When Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, they left their greenhouses behind, intact. The idea was to have the Palestinians use the greenhouses to generate income from sales of produce, as well as for their own food.. But the Palestinians burned the greenhouses down and built rocket-launching sites to replace them.
Palestinian priority is to kill Jews. Building a better society or their own state is just a PR gimmick for them, to gain Western support.
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