Egypt rejects Israel’s plans for Rafah Crossing

Egypt has rejected an Israeli proposal for the two countries to coordinate to re-open the Rafah Crossing between Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, and to manage its future operation, two Egyptian security sources said, Reuters reported.

Officials from Israeli security service Shin Bet presented the plan on a visit to Cairo on Wednesday, amid rising tension between the two countries following Israel’s military advance last week into Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by war have been sheltering.

The Rafah crossing has been a main conduit for humanitarian aid entering Gaza, and an exit point for medical evacuees from the territory, where a humanitarian crisis has deepened and some people are at risk of famine.

Israeli armed forces reoccupied the crossing last week and raised  the Israeli flag over it.

The Israeli proposal included a mechanism for how to manage the crossing after an Israeli withdrawal, the security sources said, adding that according to the plan, Palestinians would not be allowed to manage the crossing. Egypt insists the crossing should be managed only by Palestinian authorities, they added.

An Israeli official who requested anonymity said the delegation travelled to Egypt “mainly to discuss matters around Rafah, given recent developments”, but declined to elaborate.

Egypt’s foreign ministry’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Egypt and Israel have a long-standing peace treaty and security cooperation, but the relationship has come under strain during Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza, especially since Israel advanced on Rafah.

Egypt says Rafah’s closure is due solely to the Israeli military operation. It has warned repeatedly that Israel’s offensive aims to empty out Gaza by pushing Palestinians into Egypt.

Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said on Wednesday that Egypt had rejected an Israeli request to open Rafah to Palestinian civilians who wish to flee.

Speaking yesterday at the Arab Summit in Bahrain, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said: “Israel controls the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side with the aim of tightening the siege on Gaza. We oppose the liquidation of the Palestinian cause or the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. We do not see an international desire to end the Israeli siege and the conflict in the region.”

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