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Trucks carrying relief supplies wait on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing
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- Author: Sebastian Usher
- Rolle, editor for BBC Arab World Affairs
6 hours ago
Egypt has long played a mediating role not only between Israel and the Palestinians, but also between the main Palestinian factions themselves.
It was the first Arab state to make peace with Israel in 1978 after fighting several wars with the Jewish state.
Now the focus is on Egypt’s control over one of the two land routes from the Gaza Strip the Rafah border crossing.
Thousands of Palestinians wait on the Gaza side of the border, while hundreds of trucks carrying urgently needed aid are parked on the Egyptian side. Many other aid convoys are also on the way to the border.
But there is still no agreement on opening the border crossing, which has also been hit by several Israeli attacks in recent days.
Cairo has had strict restrictions on movement at the Rafah crossing for many years to the point that many Palestinians have accused Egypt of enforcing Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has been in place since Hamas came to power in 2007.
The restrictions largely have to do with security concerns in northern Sinai, where Egyptian authorities have long been embroiled in a deadly conflict with alQaedalinked jihadists.
Opening without guarantees?
But Egypt’s current reluctance to open the border crossing without clear conditions and guarantees may have more to do with an attempt to prevent a mass exodus of Palestinians from Gaza.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths says Egyptian authorities fear a large influx of Gazans which they would then be responsible for indefinitely.
Furthermore, Egypt does not want to play any role in the potentially permanent relocation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza.
The country appears ready to allow foreigners and Palestinians with dual nationality to leave, but wants to make this conditional on humanitarian aid getting into the Gaza Strip.
Another obstacle is that Israel appears to want virtually the opposite: to allow more Palestinians to leave than Egypt is willing to accept, while limiting the amount of aid coming in.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the Israeli government had not yet adopted a position that would allow the border crossing to be opened.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the impasse have intensified as aid groups warn that the situation in Gaza is increasingly close to a humanitarian catastrophe.