(JTA) —  Egypt said it found hundreds of new tunnels between Gaza and the Sinai.

Cairo, which is creating an eight-mile buffer zone, discovered the tunnels using satellite imagery, the Times of Israel wrote, citing a report on Sky News Arabic.

The Egyptian army plans to uproot 10,000 residents from approximately 800 houses to make way for the buffer zone.

The zone’s construction comes in response to a terror attack at an army checkpoint last week in which 31 soldiers were killed. Since the attack, Egypt has implemented a curfew and a three-month state of emergency, and has closed the Gaza border.

Eventually the buffer zone will be monitored with surveillance cameras and will feature a water-filled trench along the border to the Mediterranean Sea, the Times of Israel reported.