Troops from reserve battalion 8226 discovered a suspicious bag containing millions of shekels in cash and two GPS devices during a routine patrol Wednesday morning on the Philadelphi Corridor—the strategic border route often called Hamas’s oxygen pipeline.
The soldiers spotted the bag left on the side of the corridor, which connects the Gaza Strip to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. After inspecting it, they found a large amount of cash estimated at millions of shekels and two GPS devices.
According to information received by Channel 14, it’s unclear how the bag ended up on the corridor. The matter is under investigation by the Gaza Division, in whose sector the bag was found.
Security officials estimate the bag may have fallen from one of the aid trucks entering the Strip for Hamas. Another possibility raised in the assessment is that the bag fell from a drone attempting to smuggle goods in the area.
Israel has controlled the Philadelphi Corridor for over two years, yet smuggling attempts on the route appear to continue.