The Israeli Army said on Wednesday that it had gained “operational control” over the strategic Philadelphi corridor along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
“We have established operational control” over the 14-kilometer (8.5-mile) corridor, a military official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The seizure of the Philadelphi corridor comes just weeks after Israeli forces took control of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on May 7 as their ground assault on the far-southern Gazan City began.
The corridor had served as a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, and Israeli troops patrolled it until 2005, when they were withdrawn as part of a broader disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
Since then, however, there were fears that the corridor was being used to channel weapons to armed groups in the Palestinian territory.
Fighting raged in Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah on Wednesday, residents and officials said, a day after Israeli tanks rolled into the center of the city.
With AFP
