Israel yesterday launched a campaign to find tunnels near its borders with the Gaza Strip, theAnadolu Agency reported.

Palestinians in the Khan Younis city of Abasan, opposite where the Israeli operation is taking place, said they were surprised to see Israeli trucks unloading heavy equipment in the early morning, they were accompanied by a large number of soldiers and drones.

They said Israeli forces in the area had been working to construct a very tall sand barrier along the borders with Khan Younis and Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip over the past couple of weeks.

The forces did not cross the border into the Gaza Strip, the news organisation said.

Last week Israel announced that it would build a concrete wall both above and below ground in order to combat the tunnels along its borders with Gaza, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronothreported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tel Aviv would exert “any possible effort” to protect its borders with Gaza.

Source: middleeastmonitor.com