Egypt creating buffer zone along Gaza border

Ma’an news agency reported that Egyptian border forces destroyed 10 tunnels and seven homes in the Sinai on Saturday, as part of new campaign to create a buffer zone along the border with Gaza that would extend 500 meters in some places.

The campaign began with a military operation in the border town of Rafiah, where tunnels leading into Gaza were targeted in the neighborhoods of al-Brahma, al-Sarsuriya, Salahudeen, al-Helwat, and Zoraba, an Egyptian security source told Ma’an.

The security source added that the tunnels were destroyed and the homes they were located in were subsequently blown up.

He explained that the move was part of a wider campaign to set up a buffer zone along the border with Gaza that would extend 300 meters in populated areas and 500 meters in open areas.