Gaza, MINA – For the first time since 2005, Israeli forces moved into the eastern side of the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, Anadolu Agency reports.
The Israeli army said early Tuesday that its 401st armored brigade seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip.
A military statement said that Israeli forces were conducting a “sweep operation” in the areas of eastern Rafah it seized.
Army footage showed Israeli tanks rolling through the area and the Israeli flag raised on the Gaza side.
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A spokesman of the Palestinian border crossing authority confirmed that the border terminal was closed from the Palestinian side.
Egypt condemned Israel’s military control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, terming the move a “dangerous escalation” that endangers the safety of more than one million Palestinians.
It called on Tel Aviv to practice “maximum restraint” and for the international parties to intervene “to defuse the current crisis.”
Rafah is home to more than 1.5 million Palestinians, who have taken refuge from Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip. (T/RE1/P2)
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