Tel Aviv [Israel], May 30: The Israeli army on May 29 announced that its forces had taken control of the buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
In a televised press conference, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari announced that Israeli forces had gained "operational" control of the "Philadelphia Corridor", which is a 14 km long corridor along along the Gaza Strip 's only border with Egypt, according to Reuters.
"The Philadelphi corridor serves as an oxygen supply line for Hamas , and is regularly used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip," Mr. Hagari affirmed, but did not specify what "operational" control was.
The border with Egypt along the southern edge is the only land border of the Gaza Strip that Israel did not previously control directly. Control of the Philadelphia Corridor gives Israel authority over Gaza's entire land border, according to Reuters.
Previously, on May 29, Israel sent tanks to attack the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. Israeli tanks entered the center of Rafah for the first time on May 28, despite an order from the International Court of Justice demanding an immediate halt to the attack on the city, according to Reuters.
Also on May 29, Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi seemed to reject the idea that the conflict could end after a military strike against Hamas in Rafah, saying he expected military operations. Israel's war in Gaza will continue at least until the end of this year, according to The New York Times .
"We expect to need another seven months of fighting to consolidate our achievements and realize what we have determined is the destruction of the administrative and military capabilities of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement." , Mr. Hanegbi said in an interview on Israel's Radio Kan.
There is currently no information on the reaction of Hamas as well as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement to Mr. Hanegbi's statement.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
