Gaza's 9 mile border with Egypt includes a buffer zone known in Israel as the Philadelphi corridor. Today Israel claimed it had gained tactical control over the corridor and located more than a dozen tunnels used to smuggle items into Gaza.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said the zone was “Hamas’s oxygen tube” and had been used by the Palestinian armed group for “smuggling munitions into Gazan territory on a regular basis.” He said that Hamas had also built tunnels near the Egyptian border, calculating that Israel would not dare strike so close to Egyptian territory.

Israeli officials have said seizing the narrow, roughly nine-mile-long area holds crucial importance for preventing Hamas from rearming itself through cross-border smuggling. “It must be in our hands; it must be closed,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told reporters in December, after being asked whether Israel still intended to capture the zone...

Israel seems to be in a tight diplomatic spot with Egypt at the moment. Egypt apparently doesn't want to admit that any such tunnels exist or that they have been used to smuggle weapons to Hamas. State run TV accused Israel of lying.

“These lies reflect the magnitude of the crisis facing the Israeli government,” the official said, adding, “Israel continues its attempts to export lies about on-the-ground conditions for its forces in Rafah in order to obscure its military failure and to find an escape for its political crisis.”

Israel did appear to back down a bit, saying later in the evening Wednesday that it wasn't sure whether all of the tunnels crossed the border into Egypt. Whether it said that for diplomatic reasons or because it's true isn't clear at the moment. The Jerusalem Post has more on one of the tunnels recently discovered.

The IDF said Wednesday night that, over the past few weeks, troops found a tunnel shaft located 100 m. from the Rafah Crossing, one-and-a-half km. Long and containing several blast doors. It led to an underground tunnel route used by Hamas. Troops found a large cache of weapons, including short-range and ant-tank missiles, AK-47s, explosives, and grenades. The military said the tunnel included a hideout, toilets, and rooms. All were destroyed.

IDF chief spokesman R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari noted, “Our intelligence has not indicated so far that hostages have been transferred through these tunnels” that border with Egypt. He added that “there is wide-scale Egyptian defense on the border, as well as on Cairo’s interests. We update them on every tunnel we find. Every shaft that is located, we will deal with it.”...

IDF Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, speaking to troops in Rafah on Wednesday, said, “This is the last brigade that remains with full capabilities, and therefore, we want to dismantle the Rafah Brigade. But we will deepen the achievement and bring Hamas to very low points.

Israel is continuing to do what it said it was going to do last October, i.e. bring an permanent end to Hamas' control of Gaza. Allowing Hamas to survive guarantees another future attack. Hamas leaders have said as much. Meanwhile, Hamas has refused to engage in talks about releasing hostages so long as the attack on Rafah is ongoing.

There was no word on Wednesday on developments in the ceasefire and hostage release talks. Hamas has said talks are pointless unless Israel ends its offensive on Rafah.

The armed wing of Hamas and that of allies Islamic Jihad said they confronted invading forces in Rafah with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs and blew up explosive devices they had planted, resulting in numerous successful hits.

The Israeli military said three Israeli soldiers were killed and three badly wounded. Public broadcaster Kan radio said an explosive device had been set off in a Rafah building.

For its part, Israel said the war with Hamas will likely continue through the end of this year.

Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said Wednesday that he expected Israel’s military operations in Gaza to continue through at least the end of the year, appearing to dismiss the idea that the war could come to an end after the military offensive against Hamas in Rafah.

“We expect another seven months of combat in order to shore up our achievement and realize what we define as the destruction of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s military and governing capabilities,” Mr. Hanegbi said in a radio interview with Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster.

That's bad news for Hamas who now face being trapped in their tunnels without the ability to resupply themselves from Egypt. But it's also bad news for Joe Biden who won't get any relief from left-wing pressure over his stance on Israel prior to the US election. This almost ensures that there will be a mass of protesters at the Democratic Convention in Chicago this August, something which could conflict with the image of a unifying coronation the party is eager to create for viewers.