The source said Israeli media reports are an attempt by Israel to "escape from its failures in the Gaza Strip."

"Israel's inability to achieve success in Gaza is leading it to spread claims about the existence of tunnels to justify its ongoing aggression against the strip," added the source.

The high-level source further noted that Israel has not provided any evidence of any operational tunnels on the Egypt-Gaza borders.

"Israel is making references to closed tunnels in Gaza to spread misleading claims for political purposes," said the source.

They added: "Israel is overlooking arms smuggling operations from Israel to the West Bank as a pretext for seizing land and carrying out further killings and extermination against Palestinians."

Earlier this week, Israeli media circulated reports that the Israeli army has "uncovered" a "3-metre-high tunnel" in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.

The Israeli media also claimed that the Israeli army has discovered "dozens of tunnels" along the Philadelphi Corridor, including "at least 25 between Egypt and Gaza."

'Baseless and false' claims
 

Egypt has repeatedly refuted Israeli allegations that Egypt is a source of weapons "smuggled into Gaza through tunnels" along the 14-kilometre Egypt-Gaza border.

Earlier in the summer, Head of the State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan comprehensively rebuffed "baseless and false" Israeli claims on the matter.

Rashwan emphasized that Egypt maintains full sovereignty over its territories and has dedicated substantial efforts to ensuring stability in Sinai and securing the Egypt-Gaza border.

“Egypt itself suffered greatly from these tunnels during the fierce confrontation with terrorist groups in Sinai following the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in June 2013 until 2020,” he said.

“Egypt faced significant challenges posed by tunnels used for smuggling fighters and weapons during intense confrontations with terrorist groups in Sinai from June 2013 to 2020,” added Rashwan.

These confrontations resulted in more than 3,000 Egyptian martyrs - army, police, and civilians - and over 13,000 wounded, he noted.

Securing the border
 

Rashwan also explained how Egypt secured the borders and tackled the tunnels issue.

“This was done by establishing a five-kilometre buffer zone from Rafah to the Gaza border and demolishing over 1,500 tunnels."

"Furthermore, Egypt enhanced the border wall with the strip - extending it to the full length of the 14-kilometre border and fortifying it with a concrete wall: six metres above ground and six metres below."

Rashwan added that the construction of three barriers between Sinai and Palestinian Rafah made smuggling impossible, whether above or below ground.

"There are now three barriers between Sinai and Palestinian Rafah, making it impossible for any smuggling operation,” he noted.