For two weeks, Egypt has been stepping up its rhetoric with Israel, warning against an influx of Gazan refugees arriving in the Sinai Peninsula.
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On Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi lamented what he said was a lack of response on behalf of the international community "to the crisis in the Gaza Strip." At the same time, he called for an immediate ceasefire.
Video: PM vows to exact immense price from Hamas in Diplomatic-Security Cabinet meeting / Credit: Twitter/@Israelipm
Interestingly, just about a decade ago, Egypt faced a similar challenge to what Israel is going through now.
ISIS terrorists, who had infiltrated from Gaza, carried out deadly terror attacks in Sinai. They used the smuggling tunnels leading from the strip to Egypt, the economic anchor of Hamas. Estimates say that between 10-15% of the terror organization's budget came from taxes on goods that pass through the tunnels in Rafah as well as from issuing licenses, for an annual income of about one billion dollars.
As such, el-Sissi dealt a great blow to Hamas. Since his rise to power, approximately 1,900 tunnels have been destroyed.
Egypt did not hold back: the tunnels were shelled from the air, destroyed with controlled explosions on the ground, and flooded with sewage water or water pumped directly from the Mediterranean Sea. Some reports said even chemical substances were used, which, if true, turned the tunnels into death traps.
Such reports embarrassed Cairo, and an official was quick to accuse Hamas of transporting chemical weapons to terror groups in Sinai.
October 2014 saw another turn in the war on the tunnels. Thirty-three Egyptian soldiers were killed in an ISIS terror attack, and as far as the country's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was concerned, the die was cast.
Over the next three years, Egypt destroyed 3,000 residential buildings in Rafah near the border. Satellite footage showed entire neighborhoods turned to rubble.
A mere year later its goal was achieved. According to Arab sources, the Egyptian military managed to destroy 97% of the smuggling tunnels. After that, Cairo turned its focus to the terror groups in Sinai.
Nevertheless, Egypt still had a lot of work on its hands, with smugglers having restored the damaged tunnels and smuggled considerable amounts of drugs into Gaza. Hamas too built more tunnels.
In 2017, the Egyptian military uncovered a new network of tunnels north of the Rafah crossing. This time, it required larger quantities of explosives.
It seems that it is now Israel's turn to deal with the tunnels.
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