The "Philadelphia Corridor" is a buffer zone between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. This corridor, 100 meters wide and 14 km long, could represent the only route for hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Fearing a massive influx of refugees and its possible consequences, Egypt has deployed around 40 tanks and armored personnel carriers to northeastern Sinai over the past two weeks. Israel sees this area as vital for the supply of humanitarian aid and aid transit. In December 2007, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Egypt was doing a "poor job" trying to stop arms smuggling under the "Philadelphia corridor"