Egypt has destroyed more than 3,000 cross-border smuggling tunnels along its border with the Gaza Strip in the past five years, Egyptian Army Spokesperson Tamer Al-Refai revealed on Sunday.
In an interview with the private Egyptian news channel Extra News, he said: “In 2015, the [Egyptian] government took a decision to establish a buffer zone along the border [with the Gaza Strip]. These tunnels were used to threaten Egypt’s national security, including the infiltration of terrorists, smuggling of weapons, ammunition, goods, narcotic drugs and vehicles. We established the buffer zone in stages because residents had to be relocated. They have received compensation”.
Refai added that some of the destroyed tunnels were three kilometres long and 30 metres deep.
The tunnels which enable the smuggling of weapons to Salafist Islamic State-linked terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula.
He said that the Egyptian security forces were continuing their “heroic actions to defeat terrorists” in the Sinai Peninsula, adding that 126 terrorists were killed during the recent military operation there at the end of April.
During the operation, Egyptian security forces seized different types of weapons and explosive belts, Refai said, adding: “We destroyed 630 explosive devices”. The Egyptian Air Force targeted and destroyed 228 hideouts and shelters used by terrorists, he said. In addition, 116 four-wheel-drive vehicles were destroyed and 266 suspects were arrested.
The military, along with police forces, has killed hundreds of terrorists since 2018 and thousands since 2013. In October 2018, the Armed Forces announced that 450 terrorists had been killed since the launch of the Sinai offensive in February 2018.
Hamas has developed a sophisticated network of interconnecting concrete-reinforced military tunnels to be used for terror attacks against Israel. These cross-border tunnels were used in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006, and a number of terror attacks during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
Hamas used hundreds of thousands of tonnes of concrete and an estimated £63 million to construct as many as 32 tunnels from Gaza into Israel for terror purposes destroyed by the IDF in 2014.
