Egypt begins work on buffer zone along Gaza border

Egypt’s army began work on a buffer zone on the Sinai-Gaza Strip border on Wednesday, after some of the 10,000 residents slated for evacuation began voluntarily leaving, Egyptian media reported.

The military started constructing the secured area — meant to prevent tunnel smuggling from Gaza — with helicopters flying over flattened buildings and military vehicles moving into the zone on the ground, reported news website Al Youm Al Sabah.

Photos showed large explosions and piles of rubble where homes and businesses once stood along the Gaza border.

President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi’s decision, announced Tuesday, to create the security buffer zone came four days after one of the deadliest attacks on its military in Sinai since former president Mohamed Morsi, who was backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, was ousted last year.

At least 31 soldiers at a checkpoint in remote northeast Sinai were killed in the suicide attack that Sisi blamed on “Islamists.” No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Egyptian army has waged a broad offensive in northern Sinai against armed groups, while simultaneously working to destroy a network of tunnels used to smuggle goods in and out of the Gaza Strip and tighten control of the border crossing.

After the latest attack, authorities declared a state of emergency and curfew in Sinai, and indefinitely closed the Gaza crossing. All other Gaza crossings are controlled by Israel. The strip has been under strict blockade since 2005.

Egypt's security buffer zone will include water-filled trenches meant to stop tunnel diggers. It will be 500 meters wide and will extend along the full 8-mile border with Gaza.

Residents in the affected area were initially given 48 hours to leave. But after protests, the deadline has been put on hold, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Homeowners will reportedly receive compensation for evacuation, and about 200 families have already accepted deals and left, Palestinian news agency Maan News reported. At least 680 additional families live along the border, it added.

The decision to create the buffer zone was taken by the Egyptian Defense Council, which said the project would be completed by the end of 2014, officials told Maan.

Attacks on security forces in northern Sinai have increased since Sisi came to power. He has blamed the attacks on Morsi and his allies, including Gaza's Hamas. Hamas, like the Muslim Brotherhood, has denied any hand in the violence. Al-Qaeda-inspired group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on Egyptian security forces.

Hamas has also criticized Egypt for imposing stricter border rules on Palestinians, especially since the Rafah border is the only non-Israeli-controlled crossing for Gaza residents.

Al Jazeera and wire services