EL-ARISH: Egyptian police have found a large cache of explosives close to the Gaza border which they believe Palestinians intended to smuggle into the territory, a security official said on Thursday.

The discovery was made on Wednesday evening near the divided border town of Rafah following a tip-off from residents, the official said.

The 500 kg of TNT was found in plastic bags and was probably intended to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip, he said.

Israel and the United States have accused Egypt of not doing enough to stem arms smuggling into Gaza, particularly since its seizure by the Islamist Hamas movement in June last year, a charge Egypt strongly denies. – AFP