Egypt has begun demolishing homes along its Sinai border with the Gaza strip as part of a 500m buffer zone to prevent weapons smuggling.
Locals were given 48-hours notice and a promise of compensation to leave.
If they refuse to move, their property is being forcibly seized.
Each displaced family is due to receive 900 Egyptian pounds (99 euros) to help pay for three months rent elsewhere, while compensation for destroyed property is being calculated.
The buffer will include water-filled trenches to prevent tunneling.
Around 800 homes in the border city of Rafah have been evacuated.
One of the city’s residents said :“We hear the explosions everyday near the border. They fire at the residents who live on that side, they are trying to make it an isolated area.”
The move follows last week’s militant bomb attacks in Sinai which killed more than 30 Egyptian soldiers.
The remote strategic region borders Israel, Gaza and the Suez Canal
Egypt suspects Gaza’s Hamas administration of aiding the militants – something Hamas denies.
Source: euronews
