CAIRO — “Tunnels are gates for terrorism and external support of terrorism from Gaza to Sinai,” security expert Maj. Gen. Khalid Okasha said when asked about the news of the buffer zone expansion on the border between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. The news came after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi — temporarily in charge of the legislative power until the election of parliament — issued a law on April 12 to maximize to life imprisonment (25 years) the penalty of digging tunnels linking the Egyptian border to any other state. Also, using such tunnels or being aware of their existence without reporting them is to be punished.

Okasha told Al-Monitor, “Expanding the buffer zone, maximizing tunnel digging and using sanctions will restore stability to Sinai and decrease the amount of terrorist attacks that often enter into Egypt from the Gaza border."

On Oct. 25, 2014, the Egyptian state issued a decision to remove all facilities, farms and houses located in the buffer zone (500 meters, or 0.3 miles, west of the Gaza Strip) and vowed to compensate the population by providing them with other houses or money to buy a house. On Nov. 14, another decision was issued to expand the buffer zone to 1,000 meters (0.6 miles) west of Gaza and rid that area of all establishments and houses. The same procedures were to be followed and house owners were promised compensation.

According to the local council of the North Sinai province, the total value of the compensation amounts to 364 million Egyptian pounds ($47.6 million), which will be divided over the two phases of the buffer zone expansion works: the first phase, 500 meters containing 837 houses; and the second phase, 500 meters containing 1,220 houses.