Two Egyptian security sources said that Cairo sent about 40 tanks and armored personnel carriers to northeastern Sinai in the past two weeks, while the Israeli press reported that the Israeli army had approved a military operation in Rafah.

Egyptian forces were deployed before Israel expanded its military operations to include the city of Rafah (south of Gaza), to which most of the Gaza Strip's residents were displaced in search of a safe haven, which exacerbated Egypt's fears of the possibility of forcing the Palestinians to leave the Gaza en masse.

The Egyptian military moves come within the framework of a series of measures to enhance security on its borders with the Gaza Strip.

In developments, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that the Israeli army approved a military operation in Rafah. The newspaper said that preparations for the operation in Rafah began weeks ago, and the army has already approved a plan that includes the necessity of evacuating the displaced.

For its part, the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that the military operation in Rafah will begin after the completion of a "large-scale evacuation" of civilians from the city and its suburbs.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously stated that he ordered the army to develop a dual plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah and crush the remaining brigades of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

Netanyahu added that it is not possible to achieve the goals of the war in Gaza and maintain 4 Hamas brigades in Rafah.

International concern

International concern is increasing over the fate of hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans who have taken refuge in Rafah since Israel threatened a ground invasion of the city located on the border with Egypt.

Washington said - yesterday, Thursday - that it would not support any Israeli military operation in Rafah without giving due consideration to the plight of civilians, and US President Joe Biden described Israel's response to Hamas attacks on October 7 as "exaggerated."

Since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, Egypt has erected a concrete border wall, the foundations of which extend into the ground 6 meters and are topped with barbed wire. The two security sources said that Egypt has also erected sand barriers and enhanced surveillance at border posts.

For its part, the Egyptian State Information Service reported - last month - details of some of the measures taken by Egypt on its borders in response to Israeli insinuations that the Hamas movement had obtained weapons smuggled from Egypt.

The authority added that 3 rows of barriers make it impossible to smuggle anything from above or below the ground.

Satellite images - taken last December and January - showed some new construction along the 13-kilometre border near Rafah and the extension of the wall to the edge of the sea on the northern end of the border.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies