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Israel Gains Control of Gaza Border with Egypt as Rafah Offensive Advances
(Wall Street Journal) Dov Lieber - Israeli officials say the IDF has secured control of Gaza's 9-mile border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor. This will allow Israel to prevent Hamas from rearming by smuggling weapons through tunnels that reach into Egypt. Israel had relinquished control of the area in 2005. An Israeli military official said Israel had so far found 20 cross-border tunnels and had informed Egypt about them. Israel has said it hoped to work with Egypt to prevent future smuggling. Israeli forces in Rafah have largely been focused on taking control of the border area, which isn't as densely populated as other parts of Rafah. John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said Israel's "movements along the corridor did not come as a surprise to us and was in keeping with what we understood their plan to be, to go after Hamas in a targeted, limited way, not in a concentrated way. When they briefed us on their plans for Rafah, it did include moving along that corridor." Israeli officials and analysts said Israel has avoided crossing Washington's red lines in Rafah by gradually deploying limited numbers of troops, forcing a rapid evacuation of the city, and refraining from a full-scale ground assault. They note that Washington's concern that it would take months for the over one million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah to evacuate hasn't come to pass. The result has been a Rafah that has far fewer civilians. Israeli officials insist their operations in Rafah aren't tailored to suit Washington's needs, but are carried out according to their own operational and ethical guidelines.