Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Monday reiterated Egypt’s unequivocal rejection of Israeli control over the Philadelphi Corridor, also known as the Salah El-Din axis, stating that such control is unacceptable.
Foreign Minister Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt’s long-standing rejection of Israeli control over the Rafah crossing during a meeting with Egyptian editors-in-chief on Monday in Cairo. He reiterated that Egypt will not accept any alternative arrangements other than the Egyptian-Palestinian crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
“Egypt insists on operating the Rafah crossing from the other side under Palestinian supervision and demands a return to the situation as it was before 7 October,” he said.
Abdelatty pointed out that “there has been a failure by the international community in addressing the aggression against Gaza,” adding that “some are acting with hypocrisy and double standards.”
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel’s decision to control the Philadelphi Corridor after Hebrew Media reported that the Israeli cabinet voted in favour of keeping Israeli occupation forces on the Egypt-Gaza border after the end of the war.
Hours later in a televised press conference, Netanyahu stated that while fighting “the axis of evil,” Israel must maintain control of the Philadelphi Corridor.
The Israeli Prime Minister said regarding the issue of the Philadelphia Corridor “Our position is constant and has not changed.”
“I will not show any flexibility in sensitive matters about National Security,” added Netanyahu.
Netanyahu framed control of the corridor as “not a tactical military question,” but “a question of massive diplomatic pressure that will be applied to us by the entire world,” according to the Times of Israel.
“If we leave, we will not return. We will not return,” threatened Netanyahu.
Netanyahu claims that Iran and its allies use the corridor for smuggling weapons into Gaza, saying “The axis of evil needs the Philadelphi axis.”
Netanyahu also criticized Egypt, claiming security lapses in the Gaza border, without providing any evidence.
Egypt has maintained denying the accusation of current Israeli officials that weapons, explosives, ammunition, and their components are smuggled to Gaza from Egyptian territory, including through tunnels.
In April, Diaa Rashwan, the head of the State Information Service, stated that more than 1,500 tunnels between Gaza and Egypt have already been destroyed and the border wall has been strengthened.
According to Rashwan, a buffer zone was extended five kilometres from the Egyptian Rafah to the border with Gaza.
Egypt also reinforced the border with a concrete wall extending six metres high and six metres below ground, he explained.
“There are now three barriers between Sinai and Palestinian Rafah, making it impossible for any smuggling operation,” he said.
In early August, Egyptian high-level sources refuted claims circulated by Israeli media that the Israeli army discovered “operational tunnels” between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
“Israel is making references to closed tunnels in Gaza to spread misleading claims for political purposes,” said the sources.
They added, “Israel is overlooking arms smuggling operations from Israel to the West Bank as a pretext for seizing land and carrying out further killings and extermination against Palestinians.”
Netanyahu highlights that Israeli soldiers need to maintain control of the corridor during and after the first phase of the proposed ceasefire, stating “We must make permanent the fact that we are there,” detailed the Times of Israel.
Controlling the corridor has emerged as the key sticking point in ceasefire negotiations. Israel established control over the Philadelphi corridor on 29 May.
According to the ceasefire plan introduced by US President Joe Biden on 31 May, Israel would withdraw from the border and the corridors along the Egypt-Gaza border in the first phase of a three-phase ceasefire and captive deal.
Netanyahu has been widely accused of sabotaging talks by constantly upping Israeli demands to prolong the war, with an Israeli report stating US President Biden told Netanyahu to stop bullshitting him after the latter said Israel was moving forwards with negotiations on a ceasefire deal with Hamas and would soon send a delegation to resume talks.
Netanyahu says he always argued for the importance of controlling the corridor, even before the war.
“Sharon announced the disengagement in 2003, and a few months later I outlined my demands: control over all crossings to and from Gaza,” Netanyahu claimed.
The Israeli Prime Minister has not raised the corridor issue for 14 out of the 15 years he has been in power.
Israel has killed and injured over 130,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, and damaged most of the strip’s infrastructure since the start of the war on the strip.
Source: Ahram Online
