A statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry said Tuesday that remarks made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are an attempt to hinder the mediation efforts being carried out by Egypt, Qatar, and the US.
On Monday, Netanyahu claimed that Hamas obtains weapons through the Egypt-Gaza border, criticising the security situation along the border, as reported by Israeli media.
The Egyptian foreign emphasised a “firm rejection of all allegations made by Israeli officials in this regard.”
Egypt further held the Israeli government responsible for the consequences of such statements, which it said exacerbate tensions and seek to justify Israeli aggressive and inflammatory policies that have contributed to further escalation in the region.
Meanwhile, Egypt affirmed its keenness to “continue playing its historic role in leading the peace process in the region in a way that maintains regional peace and security and achieves stability for all peoples of the region,” the statement added.
In his claims, Netanyahu said: “The entry of weapons, the means to make weapons, and the means to dig tunnels, did not only occur under late Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammad Morsi but also late President Hosni Mubarak and others,” according to the Times of Israel.
He also indicated that Israel has four war aims: "To destroy Hamas, to bring back all of our hostages, to ensure that Gaza will no longer present a threat to Israel, and to return safely the residents of the northern border."
"Three of those war goals go through one place," he stressed. "The Philadelphi corridor. That is Hamas’s pipeline for oxygen and rearmament."
Netanyahu claimed that this is the precise reason Israel "must control it," saying: “We must make permanent the fact that we are there."
This comes though Egypt has reiterated more than once its rejection of any Israeli presence in the Philadelphi corridor on the Gaza-Egypt borders and the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing as a constant of any ceasefire agreement.
The latest declaration was by Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Monday when he reiterated Egypt’s unequivocal rejection of Israeli control over the Philadelphi Corridor, stating that such control is unacceptable.
Moreover, 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.
In early August, an Egyptian high-level source refuted claims circulated by Israeli media that the Israeli army discovered "operational tunnels" between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
"Israel is making references to closed tunnels in Gaza to spread misleading claims for political purposes," said the source.
"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," the source explained.
Earlier in the summer, Head of the State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan comprehensively rebuffed "baseless and false" Israeli claims on the same 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.