Yesterday evening, Wednesday, a “high-ranking” Egyptian source denied the validity of Israeli media reports about the existence of tunnels on the Egyptian side of the border with the Gaza Strip.

The source said that there are "Israeli attempts to export lies about the position of its forces on the ground in Rafah" south of Gaza.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that the army took full control of the Philadelphia axis (which runs along the Egyptian border with Gaza).

Hagari added that they found tunnels and missile platforms in the Philadelphia axis and that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) exploited it in its operations, according to his claim.

He pointed out that Israel is transmitting information to the Egyptians regarding the tunnels, and we cannot be certain that all the tunnels we discovered cross into Egypt.

Control of the Philadelphia axis comes just weeks after Israeli forces took control of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on May 7, beginning their ground attack in the governorate located in the southernmost part of the Palestinian Strip.

The axis served as a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, and Israeli forces patrolled it until 2005, when Israel withdrew its forces as part of the disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip.