The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday that its soldiers had discovered a huge smuggling tunnel underground on the Gaza-Egypt border in the Rafah area, an area the United States has barred Israel from entering.
A large smuggling tunnel discovered by the Israel Defense Forces under the Gaza-Egypt border in the Philadelphia Corridor. Published on August 4, 2024 (IDF)
The IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA, Shin Bet and Shabak) said in a statement:
Recently, the Israel Defense Forces have been working to locate and destroy underground tunnel routes in the Philadelphia area, and have discovered and destroyed dozens of routes so far.
Earlier last week, a 10-foot-tall tunnel was discovered in the Philadelphia Corridor as part of efforts to find underground tunnel routes in the Philadelphia region.
At this stage, forces are continuing to investigate and neutralise the underground tunnel routes and any other large routes that have been discovered.
The IDF will take decisive action to completely destroy the underground infrastructure in the Philadelphia Corridor and to prevent the formation of such infrastructure in the future.
The Biden administration had previously warned Israel not to enter Rafah in May and even withheld weapons to pressure Israel to stay away from the area. Israel decided to enter Rafah due to its strategic importance in the fight against Hamas.
The IDF’s control of the Philadelphia Corridor (the border road) has been put at risk in recent negotiations with Hamas over a hostage ceasefire. Hamas and the United States have been pushing Israel to cede control of the corridor, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been reluctant to make concessions.
Controlling the corridor would allow the IDF to cut off Hamas’ weapons supplies, and Israel does not trust Egyptian or US guarantees to effectively police the border.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
