Israel asks to amend Camp David deal with Egypt for control over Philadelphi Corridor

Israel has reportedly asked to cancel the Philadelphia Accord signed with Egypt following its unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Tuesday, quoting informed sources. The occupation state also wants to introduce amendments to the security annexes of the Egyptian-Israeli peace deal known as the Camp David Treaty in order to maintain control over the border strip between Egypt, the Israeli Negev and the Gaza Strip.

According to the sources, the Israeli request came during the tripartite round of talks between Israel, Egypt and the US on Sunday and Monday in Cairo. The talks were another attempt to reach security understandings regarding the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing as part of the efforts for a ceasefire agreement and prisoner-swap deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The report said that the talks failed to make any significant progress; due to Israel’s insistence on concluding new security arrangements that would ensure the continued presence of its military forces in the Philadelphi Corridor. The sources said that Egypt has categorically rejected the Israeli request and insisted on the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from that area.

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They also confirmed that the Israeli delegation submitted an official request to review the Camp David Treaty by amending it to legitimise the occupation state’s control over the Philadelphi Corridor, and allow it to intervene at any time to confront what it considers threats to its security without the need for prior permission from the Egyptians. Israel has demanded a written amendment that guarantees its “supervision of the security situation in the border area from the Palestinian side,” said the sources.

Cairo has rejected the “surprising” demands and warned that, “Opening a discussion about amending the Camp David Treaty may lead to new crises that the treaty may not withstand, especially in light of the growing anger in Egypt over the Israeli practices [in Gaza].”

Egyptian officials have stressed that Cairo will provide guarantees to prevent “exploitation” of the border area for Palestinian resistance purposes.

The official Cairo news channel denied on Monday Israeli media reports claiming that Egypt has agreed to allow occupation troops to remain in the Philadelphi Corridor, and confirmed Egypt’s adherence to the demand for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Rafah Crossing and the Corridor zone.

The sources quoted by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed indicated that the negotiations witnessed “a great deal of tension between the relevant military circles and the security circles in the Egyptian General Intelligence Service supervising the negotiations file, before agreeing on a unified vision that completely rejects any Israeli presence in the Philadelphi Corridor or any plans to move the Rafah Crossing from its current location.”

In September 2005, Israel and Egypt signed the Philadelphia Accord as a security annex to the Camp David Treaty after Israel withdrew its forces from the Gaza Strip. The agreement provides for the deployment of 755 Egyptian soldiers on the border with the Gaza Strip whose mission is to “combat terrorism, infiltration across the border, smuggling, and detecting tunnels.”

For months, the US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and ceasefire, and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

However, mediation efforts have been stalled due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’ demands to stop the war. As such, and flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza now in its eleventh month.

The Israeli onslaught has killed nearly 40,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded over 93,000. An estimated 11,000 are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by the Israelis. Vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, a charge which it denies.

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