NNA - Egypt on Monday dismissed Israeli claims about the existence of operational tunnels beneath the border area with the Gaza Strip. 

On Sunday, the Israeli military claimed that its forces had discovered numerous underground tunnel routes in the Philadelphi Corridor.

These claims “are an Israeli attempt to divert attention away from its failures in Gaza and to justify its aggression,” the state-affiliated Al-Qahera News channel said, citing a well-placed Egyptian source.

The Israeli army has taken control of the Philadelphia Corridor, a demilitarized area between Egypt and Gaza, last May, in a move vehemently opposed by Cairo.

“Israel has not provided evidence of operational tunnels along the Gaza border and is leveraging the existence of closed tunnels in Gaza to disseminate false claims for political purposes,” the source said.

The source said that Tel Aviv was also ignoring the smuggling of weapons from Israel to the West Bank as “a pretext for seizing more West Bank lands and perpetuating violence and genocide against Palestinians.” -- Anadolu Agency  

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