This week several media outlets reported that President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi refused to speak on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the latter’s office, via the National Security Council, tried to coordinate the conversation twice.
The issue appears to concern a disagreement over a possible military operation proposed by Israel along the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah. Also known as the “Philadelphi Route”, the 14 km narrow strip of land separating Palestine from Egypt was established as a buffer zone with Israel in a 1979 treaty.
Earlier this month, news sources revealed that Egypt turned down a proposal from Israel seeking greater oversight over the buffer zone on the border with Gaza. Three Egyptian security sources disclosed that Egypt is prioritising efforts to broker a ceasefire before approaching post-war arrangements. An Egyptian official later denied any cooperation between Egypt and the Israeli occupation over the corridor, saying media reports discussing such cooperation are unfounded
Netanyahu declared many times that Israel wants to control the Philadelphi Corridor in Rafah and deploy forces in the area, seeking to completely isolate the Gaza Strip from the rest of the world. Netanyahu’s arrogant declarations were issued without any mention of whether Egypt would agree to the new Israeli move and whether this would represent a violation of the 1979 Peace Treaty with Egypt. And this is not the first time that Netanyahu has made such provocative statements.
At the start of the war in Gaza, Israeli and American media outlets reported that Netanyahu asked US President Joe Biden whether he could pressure Egypt into accepting some of the Gaza Strip’s population into its territory for the duration of the conflict. Biden, according to the Washington Post, told Netanyahu that Cairo didn’t view this as an option, believing it is better to stop the war in Gaza.
There is no question that Egypt has repeatedly warned Israel and the US not to allow a situation in which displaced Palestinians from the Strip might flow into the Sinai Peninsula. Cairo warned of such an eventuality causing a “rupture” in Egyptian-Israeli relations. The US has reportedly urged Egypt to refrain from recalling its ambassador to Israel in response to repeated Israeli calls to displace Palestinian refugees in Sinai.
President Al-Sisi’s refusal to respond to Netanyahu’s phone call took place a few days after Cairo attacked Israel for its allegations before the International Court of Justice that Egypt is responsible for preventing the entry of humanitarian and relief aid into the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian side of the Rafah Crossing. President Al-Sisi himself accused Israel of impeding aid deliveries to Gaza as a pressure tactic. On Egypt’s National Police Day last Wednesday, Al-Sisi charged that Israel is using this as a form of pressure on the Gaza Strip and its people over the conflict and the release of hostages.
Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service, was more open in attacking Netanyahu and his provocative statements and false rhetoric. Rashwan confirmed that Israeli attempts to control the Philadelphi Corridor pose a grave threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations.
In a statement on the State Information Service (SIS) Website, Rashwan said that “the recent period has seen numerous statements from Israeli officials, particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, making claims and false accusations regarding the alleged smuggling operations of weapons, explosives, ammunition, and other components into the Gaza Strip from Egyptian territory.”
He further emphasised the Israeli persistence in promoting these falsehoods is an effort to justify its intent to seize control of the Philadelphi Corridor or the Salaheddin Corridor within the Gaza Strip, along the border with Egypt. “This action constitutes a breach of the security agreements and protocols previously signed between Israel and Egypt.”
Rashwan stressed, “it must be strictly emphasised that any Israeli move in this direction will seriously threaten Egyptian-Israeli relations.”
Netanyahu and all members of his extremist government need to know that their provocative statements and irresponsible policies must stop. They also need to know that the vast majority of the world’s countries want to see the end of the war in Gaza as soon as possible and believe humanitarian aid should flow into the Strip in line with UN Security Council resolutions and the International Court of Justice. The US must also exert pressure on the Israeli government to end the conflict before it goes out of control to include the entire region.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 1 February, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Short link: