The Palestinian Crossings and Borders Authority also denied the report.

“The Egyptian side denied to us any information it has about the enemy's intention to move militarily in the Palestinian-Egyptian border axis,” the Palestinian authority said in a statement to the media issued on Saturday afternoon.

The statement also denied reports that the Israeli army was operating near the Karm Abu Salem crossing between Egypt-Gaza-Israel at the southernmost point of the Gaza Strip.

“Some media outlets are playing suspicious roles intentionally or unintentionally in the transfer of news and information, and we call on them to adhere to the national line and the supreme interest of our people,” the crossings authority said.

On Saturday afternoon, Israeli media claimed the country’s army had begun operating near the Karm Abu Salem crossing and the Philadelphi corridor.

The Philadelphi corridor is a buffer zone on the Egypt-Gaza border which has been patrolled by Egyptian security forces after Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005.

"Israeli tanks have begun a ground operation from Karm Abu Salem crossing towards the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt," Al Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, and Sky News Arabia reported, citing a wide range of Israeli media sources.

In October, Egypt warned Israel of any military operations in the 100-metre-wide corridor, which is regulated by the Egypt–Israel peace treaty of 1979.