Jonathan Conricus, a former spokesman for Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told Newsmax on Tuesday that Egyptian military officials "have gotten rich out of kickbacks" from those smuggling arms through the Philadelphi corridor along the country's border with the Gaza Strip to Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists.
Conricus told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" it is a reason Egypt has not taken responsibility for allowing the smuggling to happen. Egypt was supposed to be in charge of guarding its border with Gaza, but during Israel's military operation to root out Hamas terrorists and rescue hostages, the Jewish state found a vast tunnel network in the corridor leading to Egyptian soil.
"Not only are they not taking responsibility, but many officers in the Egyptian military forces have gotten rich out of kickbacks from smugglers," Conricus said. "And even worse, today, the Egyptians are the main force standing between Israel making sure that there are no tunnels and stopping Hamas."
As of Thursday, the IDF said about 80% of Hamas' tunnels along the Philadelphi corridor had been neutralized. More than 150 tunnels have been discovered along the corridor, the Times of Israel reported.
Israel is under increasing pressure to reach a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would involve the return of Israeli hostages taken during Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack. The pressure has magnified since the slain bodies of six hostages, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were found last weekend in a Gaza tunnel.
But Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly has said any deal must come with Israel maintaining control of the Philadelphi corridor.
"The Egyptians have been opposing vehemently any efforts by Israel to control that Philadelphi corridor and make sure that there are no tunnels," Conricus said. "And Egypt has been applying pressure on the U.S., and that has been applied on Israel.
"And unfortunately, that is why things are stalling. But Egypt has so much to lose from closing those tunnels. A lot of kickbacks and a lot of money has gone through Egypt because of those tunnels."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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