Egypt has vehemently refuted Israeli assertions that active tunnels are being used to smuggle weapons and people under the Egyptian border with Gaza via the Philadelphi Corridor. This area, known for its tense and heavily monitored border, has been at the center of Israeli concerns regarding potential threats emanating from the Gaza Strip.
According to an exclusive report by Haaretz, a high-ranking Israeli official involved in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Cairo revealed that despite the revelation and videos showing the volume and extend of the tunnels in Rafah, Egyptian authorities have insisted to Israel that there are no active tunnels along the corridor between Gaza and Sinai. The Egyptian government claims that all such tunnels were sealed six years ago in a sweeping initiative that began a decade ago to curb smuggling operations into the besieged Gaza enclave.
MONDAY 08-26-2024
— Shiri_Sabra (@sabra_the) August 26, 2024
Egypt has announced that they will not accept any Israeli presence on the Philadelphia axis or Rafah border crossing as part of a possible deal
Obviously they don't want us to interfere with the smuggling empire between them and Hamas pic.twitter.com/TDzBzJITeV
These assurances, however, starkly contrast with the accounts of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has expressed ongoing concerns about the potential existence of such tunnels. Netanyahu's stance has fueled tensions, raising questions about the motivations behind his insistence on a continued Israeli military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, despite Egypt’s denials.
“There’s always a possibility that smuggling is taking place through tunnels that neither Egypt nor Israel know about,” the source told Haaretz. This acknowledgment of uncertainty underscores the complexity of the situation, but the source emphasized that Netanyahu’s demands for a permanent Israeli presence in the corridor have sparked anger and frustration in Cairo. The Egyptians, according to the source, are particularly incensed by what they perceive as an infringement on their sovereignty and a challenge to their national security. However, it is widely known that some Egyptian officials have worked in the past to help Palestinian militants while enriching themselves by turning a blind eye to the rampant smuggling from the Egyptian city of Rafah to the Gazan Rafah via the Philadelphi Corrider.
Egypt who vehemently opposed Israel entering the Philadelphi corridor is now opposed to any future Israeli presence there.
— #EBluemountain1 🎗 (@EBluemountain1) August 26, 2024
We now know that Philadelphi was the main entry point of weapons into Gaza and the Egyptians cooperated with Hamas to allow the flow.
Now ask yourselves…
Adding to the friction, recent Israeli military operations have uncovered tunnels within Gaza, which Israel claims could potentially connect to Egypt. However, Cairo has categorically denied these allegations, insisting that none of the tunnels discovered by Israeli forces have any openings on the Egyptian side.
The practical demand by Netanyahu for the continued deployment of Israeli forces along the Philadelphi Corridor has become a major stumbling block in the already fraught ceasefire negotiations. This issue has particularly come to the forefront as Israel and Hamas explore the possibility of a comprehensive prisoner exchange deal. The presence of Israeli troops in the corridor remains one of the most contentious points, with Egypt refusing to tolerate any Israeli military presence on its border with Gaza. The issiue for Israel is that until IDF forces entered Rafah a few months ago, Hamas and other militant groups had been able to smuggle in tens of thousands of weapons, explosives, tunnel building materials, drugs and people. Israel sees their presence in the narrow corridor as a necessity to ensure that Hamas cannot rebuild their infrastructure.
⚠️SEE FOR YOURSELVES:
— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) May 29, 2024
Our troops located dozens of loaded rocket launchers and approx. 20 tunnel shafts along the Philadelphi Corridor, near Rafah. This was a strategic location chosen by Hamas due to the proximity to Gaza’s limit with Egypt.
Hamas continues to embed itself… pic.twitter.com/U9A9TCKKfP
Egyptian state television, Al-Qahera News, has been unambiguous in its stance. The broadcaster reported that Cairo has conveyed to all parties involved that the presence of Israeli forces in the Rafah border area, which is part of the corridor, is categorically unacceptable. Egypt, serving as a mediator in the conflict, has reiterated that any Israeli military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor not only violates the treaties established between Egypt and Israel but also poses a direct threat to Egyptian national security without explaining how it is any different from the forces Israel has along the Negev's border with Sinai. Analysts have speculated that the amount of money Egyptians have made from the black-market trade with Gaza is signficant enough for those who oppose the Egyptian government to not turn against it. Some of the people who are said to be invovled in the smuggling are key, high-ranking officials in the Egyptian government and military.
The Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip of land approximately 14 kilometers long and 100 meters wide, has long served as a buffer zone under the terms of the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the responsibility for patrolling this sensitive area has fallen to the Egyptian army. However, the reintroduction of Israeli forces, even in a limited capacity, is seen by Egypt as a severe breach of the agreements that have maintained peace along this border for decades.
More than 50 tunnels along the Philadelphi Route, the Egypt-Gaza border area, were demolished by combat engineers over the past week, the IDF says.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 15, 2024
The military does not detail how many of the tunnels crossed into Egypt.
Tunnels along the Philadelphi Route are believed to be… pic.twitter.com/k8Wz3hTvIw
As the ceasefire talks continue to drag on with no resolution in sight, the future of the Philadelphi Corridor remains uncertain. The insistence by Netanyahu on maintaining a military presence in this area risks not only derailing the current negotiations but also sparking a broader diplomatic crisis between Israel and Egypt, a country that has historically played a critical role in mediating conflicts in the region. The implications of this standoff could reverberate far beyond the borders of Gaza, affecting the delicate balance of power in the Middle East.
