Hamas accuses Egypt of flooding Gaza border

KHAN YUNIS: Hamas on Thursday accused Egypt of further besieging the Gaza Strip by flooding the border area to the south of the Palestinian enclave, which is already under an Israeli blockade.
Egypt has been carrying out digging work in the area for several weeks that Palestinians believe is intended to flood the last remaining tunnels between Gaza and the Sinai, where fighters have been battling Egyptian forces.
Palestinians fear such moves will further isolate Gaza, where more than 100,000 were left homeless in last summer’s war with Israel and which is blockaded by the Jewish state.
Egyptian officials have not commented on the work, but residents have reported water seeping over the border.
“Why are they digging those trenches and those water pipes around Rafah?” Hamas’s chief in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said during a speech to commemorate the Eid Al-Adha holiday.
“And why discard neighborly relations and the history of Gaza, which has always defended the regional security of Egypt and Arab countries? We are telling our Egyptian brothers: Stop this project. We will do our duty against those who besiege Gaza and plot against it.”
Egypt has already established a buffer zone 10 km long and half a kilometer wide along its border with Gaza.