Egyptian military vehicles enter border area with Gaza The Israeli army has allowed several Egyptian armoured vehicles to move closer to borders with the Gaza Strip. The move has led the Palestinian side to deploy national security forces near the boundary.
On Wednesday, Israel said that the Egyptian army\'s move had been authorised by senior Israeli officers, a day after the Egyptian army confirmed its intention to secure the border area and prevent extremists from entering the Egyptian city of Sinai through the tunnels.
The Israeli army said: \"The Egyptian military activity in Sinai is coordinated with Israeli security elements and authorised at the most senior levels in Israel, to contend with security threats in Sinai that pose a threat to both Israel and Egypt.\"
Palestinian witnesses said that for the first time in years, a large number of Egyptian tanks arrived at the borders with Gaza on Tuesday, adding that the army increased its forces on the borders with Gaza with about 30 tanks mostly concentrated in western and eastern areas of the Egyptian Rafah.
A witness from Rafah told Arab Today: \"We are used to seeing military and armoured vehicles, but for the first time we are now seeing tanks.\"
The witness added that the tanks were centred in the areas of the military units of the Egyptian border guard, where a number of soldiers were seen over these locations carrying heavy weapons. Several helicopters were also spotted in the sky.
According to Turkish news agencies, a witness from the Yebna camp, in Palestinian Rafah, said that he could hear loud sounds and movements of Egyptian artillery tanks on the borders with Gaza.He added that that tanks arrived near the border area at 0130 hrs.
Another witness from Rafah said tanks and armoured vehicles arrived in Sheikh Zayed City and Egyptian Rafah on Sunday.
The witness explained that he saw four military helicopters in Sheikh Zayed City, along with some military vehicles in the main streets of the city.