According to Israeli media reports, Israel's military has taken control of the entire section of the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt.
Israeli troops are stationed in most of the area known as the Philadelphi Corridor, several media reported on Wednesday, citing the army. When asked, the military said it was investigating the reports.
The reports went on to say that there were around 20 tunnels leading to Egypt in the area, which is around 14 kilometres long.
Hamas has used tunnels to smuggle weapons into the coastal strip, for example. Some of the tunnels were reportedly destroyed. Israel has also informed its neighbour Egypt about this.
A total of 82 tunnels are reportedly located in the area. Israel's military also discovered dozens of Hamas rocket launchers along the Philadelphi corridor. The information could not initially be independently verified.
At the beginning of May, Israeli troops advanced into parts of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. They took over the only border crossing to Egypt on the Palestinian side.
Israel's deployment in Rafah has been heavily criticized internationally because hundreds of thousands of Palestinian internally displaced persons are living there.