SIS Chief Disputes Israeli Claims of Smuggling Between Sinai and Gaza

In a statement released on Monday, Rashwan emphasized that Egypt has full sovereignty over its land and exercises complete control over its entire northeastern border with Gaza or Israel.

In a recent statement, Diaa Rashwan, head of the State Information Service, confirmed that over 1,500 tunnels connecting Gaza to Egypt have been demolished, and the border wall has been reinforced. These actions directly challenge ongoing Israeli claims that Egypt is involved in smuggling weapons into Gaza.

He highlighted that Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have made recent claims that weapons, explosives, ammunition, and their components are being smuggled into Gaza from Egyptian territory through tunnels.

In the last decade, Egypt’s relentless efforts to secure Sinai, including the border with Gaza, have not gone unnoticed by nations around the globe.

“Egypt faced significant challenges due to these tunnels during the intense conflict with terrorist groups in Sinai after the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in June 2013, lasting until 2020,” he mentioned.

The tunnels, he added, had been used to smuggle fighters and weapons into Sinai to carry out terrorist operations, resulting in more than 3,000 martyrs from the army, police, and civilians, and over 13,000 injured.

This situation prompted Egypt to take measures to eliminate these tunnels permanently, he said.

According to Rashwan, a buffer zone was extended five kilometres from the Egyptian city of Rafah to the border with Gaza, and more than 1,500 tunnels were destroyed.

Egypt also reinforced the border with a concrete wall extending six metres high and six metres below ground, he explained.

“There are now three barriers between Sinai and Palestinian Rafah, making it impossible for any smuggling operation,” He said.