Newspaper: Tel Aviv informed Egypt that the Israeli army intends to control the “Philadelphia Axis”

The American Wall Street Journal reported that Israel informed Egypt of its intention to launch a military operation to control the Palestinian region of the Palestinian-Egyptian border, known as the “Philadelphia Axis.”

The Wall Street Journal quoted official Israeli and Egyptian sources as saying that as part of the operation, Palestinian elements will be removed from the Rafah crossing, located on the axis in the far south of the Gaza Strip, including the Rafah crossing.

The newspaper, citing sources, indicated that Tel Aviv informed Egypt that Israeli army forces would be stationed along the border.

The American newspaper said that Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are pushing to control the border area that the army calls the “Philadelphia Corridor,” which is 13 kilometers long and located along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, under the pretext of preventing Hamas from smuggling weapons. To the sector. 

The Tel Aviv government states that this step is a "strategy to defeat Hamas" and prevent a recurrence of its attack, as happened on October 7th.

The newspaper said that the move was a "strategic strike" that would allow Israel to penetrate tunnels in the region, limit the ability to smuggle weapons, and prevent members of the movement from escaping the Strip.

She also explained that, as part of this operation, which she described as a “risky mission,” all Palestinian officials will be removed from the crossing on the axis, and Israeli forces will be placed on the border, from the southeastern corner of Gaza on the borders with Israel and Egypt towards the Mediterranean Sea.

Earlier on Saturday, an official Egyptian source denied media reports about the existence of Egyptian-Israeli cooperation regarding the Philadelphia border axis.

The source confirmed that such news is completely false, according to what was reported by the Cairo News Channel.

Reuters earlier quoted three Egyptian security sources as saying that Cairo  rejected an Israeli proposal  to strengthen Israeli supervision of the buffer zone on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

The sources explained to Reuters that “Cairo gives priority to efforts to mediate a ceasefire before working on post-war arrangements.”

Moreover, military operations and clashes continue on various fronts for the 99th day of the war in the Gaza Strip , while  the attack on the Houthis in Yemen threatens  to expand the circle of war in the region.

The Israeli army announces the killing of a major in the reserve forces in battles in the central Gaza Strip

The Israeli army announced on Saturday evening that a major in the reserve forces was killed in battles in the central Gaza Strip.

Major (reserve) Dan Wiedenbaum (24 years old) from Raanana, a fighter in “Battalion 5037” of the “Yifthah” Brigade (11).

The army also announced that two officers and a soldier were seriously injured in battles in the southern and central Gaza Strip.

In the latest statistics published on its official website , the Israeli army confirmed that 521 officers and soldiers had been killed since October 7, 2023.

Moreover, military operations and clashes continue on various fronts for the 99th day of the war in the Gaza Strip , while  the attack on the Houthis in Yemen threatens  to expand the circle of war in the region.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced  that the number of victims and injured in the Gaza Strip as a result of the  ongoing Israeli bombing had risen to 23,843 dead and 60,317 injured since October 7 of last year.