The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday said its troops had “dismantled” Hamas’ Rafah brigade on the Philadelphi Corridor as they look to eliminate cross-border tunnels into Egypt.
In a press release the IDF said its troops in the 162nd Division had conducted “precise, intelligence-based, targeted operations in the Rafah area over the last few months” and “eliminated over 2,000 terrorists.”
Israeli forces destroyed a reported 8 miles of underground routes and have neutralized roughly 80% of all Hamas’ tunnels on the strategic security corridor, which runs alongside the border with Egypt.
The Rafah brigade was considered one of Hamas’ last remaining strongholds, according to the Times of Israel.
Israeli forces continue to conduct operations in the Tel al-Sultan area, located in the south-western portion of Gaza and just north of the Philadelphi Corridor, where tunnels continue to be located and destroyed.
The IDF said that during an operation in the Tel A-Sultan area, first launched a couple of weeks ago, Commander of the Tel al-Sultan Battalion Mahmoud Hamdan had been killed along with 250 other Hamas terrorists.
The Philadelphi Corridor has become a major point of contention as the U.S. looks to establish a cease-fire agreement with the aid of Qatar and Egypt, between Israel and Hamas.
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But any negotiations appear to have reached an impasse as Hamas has suggested that it will not agree to any cease-fire terms so long as Israeli forces remain in the security corridor in Gaza. Similarly, Jerusalem has rejected any calls for it to vacate the corridor, citing security concerns stemming from not only existing Hamas terrorists in Gaza, but also threats posed from the Sinai Peninsula.
Securing the release of all hostages taken by the Hamas terrorist group also remains a top issue for Israel, as officials like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have warned that there are mounting concerns that hostages could be smuggled out of Gaza through the Sinai Peninsula and into the hands of the Iranians.
Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, commander of the 162nd Division, told the Times of Israel that his troops had located 203 separate but interconnected tunnels in the Philadelphi Corridor, nine of which crossed over the border with Egypt.
The commander also noted that all nine tunnels had been made inoperable prior to the discovery by IDF soldiers, either by Egyptian or Hamas forces.
The remaining tunnels that have not yet been destroyed are currently being investigated and will be neutralized once all searches of the tunnels are complete.