Egypt denies Israeli claims about Gaza tunnels

CAIRO

Egypt on Monday dismissed Israeli claims about the existence of operational tunnels beneath the border area with the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, the Israeli military claimed that its forces had discovered numerous underground tunnel routes in the Philadelphi Corridor.

These claims “are an Israeli attempt to divert attention away from its failures in Gaza and to justify its aggression,” the state-affiliated Al-Qahera News channel said, citing a well-placed Egyptian source.

The Israeli army has taken control of the Philadelphia Corridor, a demilitarized area between Egypt and Gaza, last May, in a move vehemently opposed by Cairo.

“Israel has not provided evidence of operational tunnels along the Gaza border and is leveraging the existence of closed tunnels in Gaza to disseminate false claims for political purposes,” the source said.

The source said that Tel Aviv was also ignoring the smuggling of weapons from Israel to the West Bank as “a pretext for seizing more West Bank lands and perpetuating violence and genocide against Palestinians.”

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

More than 39,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,600 injured, according to local health authorities.

Almost 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul