Hamas says Egypt bolstering Gaza border security

Egyptian security forces are bolstering security along the country's border with the Gaza Strip, witnesses and Hamas security forces said Saturday.

Residents on the Palestinian side of Rafah, which is bisected by the border, said that soldiers on the Egyptian side of the border had been unusually active in recent days.

"We heard that several trucks loaded with goods and other kinds of products were confiscated by the Egyptian security forces before they arrived at the border zone," a Palestinian who operates one of the smuggling tunnels told dpa, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Witnesses said Egyptian troops in armoured vehicles were installing cameras along the border and that they had taken up positions on the roofs of buildings near the border.

Hamas security sources in Rafah said that the increased Egyptian activity was an attempt to end smuggling from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, which has been under a blockade since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007.

Egypt has been under consistent international pressure, particularly from the United States and Israel, to do more to end smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces destroyed many of the cross-border tunnels during its January offensive in the Gaza Strip, and since then Egypt has destroyed many others, Egyptian and Palestinian security officials say.