At the beginning of last week, in one of the operations to locate underground tunnel routes in the Philadelphi area, a three-meter high tunnel was uncovered on the Philadelphi Corridor. The tunnel's size allows it to be used for vehicular traffic.
At this stage, the troops are continuing with the investigation and neutralization of the underground tunnel route, as well as other large-scale routes that were found.
The IDF will thoroughly destroy all the underground infrastructure on the Philadelphi Corridor and will act with determination to prevent their formation in the future.
The discovered tunnel is on the Egyptian border. Reuters reported a few weeks ago that Egypt proposed installing a monitoring system to prevent smuggling on the border, allowing Israel to withdraw from the Philadelphi Route as part of the hostage release deal.
Two Egyptian sources and another informed source stated that the installation of the system would allow the IDF to withdraw from the Philadelphi Route while monitoring smuggling activities, addressing Hamas's objections to the presence of Israeli soldiers on the border.
The news agency noted that the question of whether IDF forces should remain along the border is one of the significant issues in negotiations, as both Hamas and Egypt oppose the IDF's presence there. This morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel would not agree to withdraw.