Israel does not intend to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor, the 8.7-mile border region separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Israel’s Kan News reported on Monday.
Hamas has for years exploited the border to smuggle weapons and other materials into Gaza via a vast network of tunnels, which the IDF has been locating and dismantling since taking control of the area in May.
According to the report, Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, the head of the IDF’s Strategic Division, said in a discussion with the government that the military is far from finishing its work in the corridor and that it has strategic importance for the war against Hamas, which is entering its 10th month.
The IDF spokesperson revealed on Sunday that a 10 foot high tunnel was located in the area by Israeli forces just last week.
The smuggling route—large enough for vehicles to drive through—was dug directly underneath an Egyptian army position on the border, according to photographs provided by the IDF.
Jerusalem has maintained that Israeli military control of the corridor is crucial to ensuring that Hamas does not resupply and reestablish itself in Gaza, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that any ceasefire agreement must include this stipulation.