Palestine works to demarcate borders with Egypt

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is exerting efforts to demarcate its borders with Egypt, Anadolu reported the head of the UN human rights department in the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying.

Omar Awadallah said the moves began after Cairo’s agreement to start discussions on the issue, noting that “there are continuous discussions between the two sides on this issue.” He did not give more details.

Egypt has joint ground and sea borders with Palestine and Israel. In 1979, Egypt reached a deal on the demarcation of its borders with Israel.

In October 2020, head of Palestine Investment Fund, Mahmoud Mustafa, said that Egypt had agreed to demarcate its borders with Palestine. This came in the light of continuous gas discoveries in the Middle East.

Mustafa said that a committee was formed to follow up on this issue, but did not say when this committee would start work.

READ: Egypt exempts Gaza students from university tuition fees

In 2015, the PA submitted a map of the Palestinian maritime borders to the UN secretary-general. It included the continental shelf and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the Gaza Strip.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported Egyptian diplomatic sources saying yesterday that the talks between Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement to end the occupation’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip included a proposal to discuss the demarcation of borders. Egypt mediated the talks.

This comes within the context of giving Palestinians an opportunity to benefit from marine gas fields off the Gaza coast to improve their standard of life.

Israel has prevented Palestinians from accessing gas fields within their territorial waters, while continuing its exploitation of natural resources which it occupies.