During the ceasefire negotiations in Cairo, Israel proposed the idea of building an underground barrier extending along the border with the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli website “Epoch” published that the Israeli government is putting pressure on the Egyptian government to establish two barriers, one overhead and the other underground, along the “Philadelphia Axis,” as well as moving the Rafah crossing site to another new location.
Egypt opposes making any changes to its borders with the Gaza Strip, especially with regard to the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphia axis.
In this context, the Israeli Channel 12 announced that the Israeli army is also planning to expand the newly created “buffer zone” in Philadelphia to include broader activities to uncover hitherto unknown tunnels.
Israeli media reports have previously stated that Tel Aviv is pressuring the Egyptian leadership to achieve this goal, including re-locating the Rafah crossing.
It is noteworthy that the Philadelphia axis, which is a narrow border strip within the territory of the Gaza Strip, extends for a distance of 14 km along the common border with Egypt.
It was agreed to keep this axis as a safety bar in accordance with the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty of 1979 and the Oslo II Agreement of 1995.
The primary goal of the axis is to prevent the smuggling of illegal materials, including weapons, ammunition, and prohibited drugs, in addition to preventing illegal immigration between the two sides.
In light of the imposed siege, the Palestinians are working to dig tunnels under the axis to bring food goods and supplies into the Strip, as these tunnels are among the main means of delivering goods to it.
Egypt announces a project to drill 586 exploratory wells with investments of $7.2 billion to enhance production