Egypt has destroyed more than 2,000 Gaza tunnels, secret files reveal
Secret military documents obtained by Middle East Eye reveal the scale of Egyptian operations to destroy tunnels between the Sinai peninsula and Gaza built to circumvent the Israel-imposed blockade of the enclave.
According to the documents, more than 2,000 tunnels were destroyed by military engineers in the border city of Rafah between 2011 and 2015.
They also reveal that senior members of the armed forces ordered a feasibility study into a proposal to dig a canal along the entire border with Gaza as an alternative to destroying the tunnels.
The documents, leaked by an army insider, offer a rare insight into the military’s extensive operations in the North Sinai governorate.
The government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is highly secretive about its activities in Rafah and has imposed a media blackout in the region since 2013 where it has waged a brutal and destructive operation against local militants aligned with the Islamic State (IS) group.
It has never released official details about the destruction of tunnels.
According to the documents, all the tunnels destroyed during the period they covered were designated as commercial or transport tunnels.
The revelations come to light following the closure of the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza after an Israeli operation on 7 May and raise questions about Israeli criticism of Egypt's alleged failure to eliminate smuggling tunnels used by Palestinian armed groups.
Read more: Egypt has destroyed more than 2,000 Gaza tunnels, secret files reveal
