GAZA
By Moustafa Haboosh
Two Egyptian military helicopters reportedly entered the airspace of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Thursday, eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency.
The helicopters were seen flying over three different districts of the southern city of Rafah, known for concealing the entrances of tunnels linking the Gaza Strip to Egypt, according to witnesses and security sources.
No official statement has been issued by the Egyptian military or the Gazan authorities regarding the alleged airspace violation.
Since the July 3 ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi, a leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, relations between Hamas – an ideological offshoot of the Brotherhood – and Egypt's new military-backed rulers have become tense.
The Egyptian media accuses Hamas of "interfering in Egypt's internal affairs" and providing support to the Muslim Brotherhood – claims dismissed by Hamas.
The Egyptian military has launched a wide-ranging campaign in the Sinai Peninsula aimed at destroying the network of underground tunnels linking Gaza to Egypt.
In recent years, the Gaza Strip's roughly 1.7 million inhabitants have come to depend on the tunnels to smuggle badly-needed commodities into the Palestinian enclave, which continues to suffer under a six-year-old Israeli/Egyptian embargo.
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