Egypt Destroys 20 Newly Found Tunnels Along Border With Gaza

CAIRO (AP) —
Palestinian men looks at what used to be a tunnel leading from the Gaza Strip into Israel, in the area of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on August 5, 2014, after a 72-hour truce agreed by Israel and the ruling Hamas movement went into effect following intense global pressure to end the bloody conflict. The firing finally stopped after 29 days of bitter and bloody fighting, bringing relief to millions on both sides of the border and halting the soaring death toll in Gaza where at least 1,867 people have died. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90
Palestinian men look at what used to be a tunnel leading from the Gaza Strip into Israel, in the area of Rafiach in the southern Gaza Strip, on August 5, 2014. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

The Egyptian military says that it has destroyed 20 recently discovered underground tunnels along the border with the Gaza Strip.

The army says the tunnels were found and destroyed in November. The announcement came on its official social media page on Monday. There were no further details.

Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade of the Palestinian coastal territory since the Islamic terror group Hamas seized Gaza in 2007. For years, Egypt tolerated a smuggling industry that allowed hundreds of tunnels through which goods like cigarettes and spare parts, as well as weapons, were brought into the strip.

After a major attack last year, the military began clearing a buffer zone along the border in an attempt to stamp out the cross-border network of tunnels that Hamas considers a lifeline.

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