Creating a buffer zone along the Gaza strip.<br/> <br />Egypt began clearing residents from its border with the Gaza Strip Wednesday to create a buffer zone following some of the worst violence since President Mohamed Mursi was overthrown last year.<br/> <br />Egypt declared a state of emergency in the border area after at least 33 security personnel were killed Friday in two attacks in the Sinai Peninsula, a remote but strategic region bordering Israel, Gaza and the Suez Canal.<br/> <br />It also accelerated plans to create a 500-meter deep buffer zone by clearing houses and trees and destroying tunnels it says are used to smuggle arms from Gaza to militants in Sinai.<br/> <br />Authorities say those who lost homes will be compensated.<br/> <br />Some in Gaza see a plot.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF GAZA, ABDEL KAREEM ABU OUF, SAYING:<br/> <br />"A buffer zone is just a plot against the Palestinian people. We are brothers with the Egyptians and we do not interfere with their border."<br/> <br />Border residen
