This comes at a time when a high-ranking Egyptian source said that Cairo is closely following the situation in Palestinian Rafah, stressing “the readiness to deal with all scenarios.”
Analysts and military experts said, speaking to Sky News Arabia, that Egypt’s main fear is that the military operation planned by Tel Aviv will push hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians towards Egyptian territory in Sinai and breach the border, in addition to the possibility that the Israeli army will launch… Attacks on the Philadelphia axis, something Cairo rejects.
However, analysts pointed out that Egypt continues to move regionally and internationally to pressure Israel to stop this process, and avoid deteriorating relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv, which will have repercussions on the peace agreement signed between the two sides.
Egypt has greatly fortified its borders with Gaza, establishing a 5-kilometre-long buffer zone and concrete walls above and below ground.
What is happening?
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested remobilization of reserve soldiers in order to prepare for the military invasion of Rafah, while Israeli Channel 13 revealed that the army will carry out air strikes in Rafah on an almost daily basis, even after asking civilians in recent weeks to search for… Shelter there to escape ground fighting in the city of Khan Yunis, just to the north.
- Israeli Channel 12 revealed that the attack on Rafah is ready and awaiting approval from the political level, adding that the army during the attack will focus on two goals: the Philadelphia axis and “purging” the city of Rafah itself from Hamas brigades, in addition to evacuating Gaza citizens to other areas in the Strip.
- The United Nations and other relief organizations, as well as many countries and organizations, including the United States, the European Union, Britain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, expressed concern about the ground attack on Rafah, and its impact on the civilian population there.
- For its part, Washington said that it would not support an Israeli military operation in Rafah “without serious planning” due to its potential risks.
Egyptian warning
- Egypt called for “the necessity of uniting all international and regional efforts to prevent the targeting of the Palestinian city of Rafah, which has now sheltered approximately 1.4 million Palestinians who were displaced there because it is the last safe area in the Gaza Strip,” according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
- Egypt stressed that “targeting Rafah, and Israel’s continued policy of obstructing the access of humanitarian aid, constitute an actual contribution to implementing the policy of displacing the Palestinian people and liquidating their cause.”
- The Egyptian statement indicated that Cairo “continues its contacts and movements with various parties, in order to reach an immediate ceasefire, enforce the truce, and exchange prisoners and detainees,” and called for “intensifying pressure on Israel to respond to these efforts, and avoiding taking measures that further complicate the situation.” “It causes harm to the interests of everyone without exception.”
- Egyptian sources hinted at suspending the peace treaty concluded with Israel if the Israeli army sent forces to Rafah.
- The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quick to comment on the statements of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in which he hinted at its “responsibility” for the Hamas attack on October 7, as Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid considered such statements “totally unacceptable, as it controls “Egypt completely controls its territory, and does not allow any party to involve its name in any failed attempt to justify its shortcomings.”
Egyptian options
Regarding the options for dealing with Israel’s implementation of its plan to invade Rafah and its repercussions on Egyptian national security, the head of the Egyptian Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, said, “The Egyptian state will not be satisfied with symbolic measures if it comes to threatening national security and its lands, as well as liquidating the Palestinian issue.”
Rashwan explained, “Egypt has a united front, and a large package of movements and measures, and Cairo also has means that enable it to defend its security, including in some stages protesting against measures of a symbolic nature, such as withdrawing an ambassador or expelling an ambassador,” before going on to say that “ The actual measures have reached Israel, and have reached those who deliver them (those messages), which may result in any strange military movement (in the border areas).
He stressed that “Egypt will not accept the infringement of its lands or the liquidation of the Palestinian issue,” pointing out that Egypt plays indispensable roles in the mediation file.
Position of the peace treaty
For his part, the Egyptian expert specializing in international relations, Ayman Samir, considered that the Israeli operation to be implemented in Rafah “puts Egyptian-Israeli relations through the most difficult test since the 1979 peace agreement.”
In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Samir said that Egypt has many options to deal with this situation, including working on several axes:
- FirstlyEgypt worked to build a political path that rejected the Israeli ideas of invading Rafah, with the support of Arab and Islamic countries, as well as mobilizing international support to dissuade Tel Aviv from its plan, including the European Union countries that announced their rejection of the military operation in the city of Rafah.
- secondlyEgypt can deal with the umbrella of international positions and international humanitarian law, including the United Nations, which with all its agencies and bodies, as well as its Secretary-General and his envoy for humanitarian affairs, rejects the Israeli logic of controlling Rafah and entering it by land, to denounce what Israel is doing.
- ThirdEgypt has the option of suspending some bilateral agreements with Tel Aviv, whether these agreements are political or economic, most notably the peace agreement signed between the two sides, especially since these military movements represent a violation of it, and therefore this risk will constitute the greatest loss for Israel, which considers this agreement to be a violation of it. It represents the greatest gain achieved for peace and stability in the region, and therefore its suspension constitutes a major blow to this path, or it may withdraw from the role of mediation between Israel and Hamas, and this will harm Israel’s attempts to release its “hostages,” as well as the threat of the “QIZ” agreement, which is a trade agreement that includes both Egypt and Egypt. Israel and America allow Egyptian products to enter the United States without customs, provided that a specific percentage of Israeli components enter them.
The Philadelphia Axis Controversy
At the same time, the Chairman of the Defense and National Security Committee of the Egyptian House of Representatives, Major General Ahmed Al-Awadi, warned of the consequences of Israel’s military invasion of the Palestinian city of Rafah, considering this “an indirect threat to Egypt.”
Al-Awadi confirmed in his statements to Sky News Arabia that the Rafah invasion clearly violates the terms of the peace agreement signed between Egypt and Israel, at a time when Egypt and the countries of the world warned of the danger and repercussions of this invasion.
He added that “Israel’s approach to the Philadelphia axis is a risk and an indirect threat to Egypt, even if it does not interfere in Egyptian territory,” since, according to the peace agreement, which Egypt and Israel signed in 1979, it is located within the buffer zone “D” to prevent any… Tensions.
The name Philadelphia Axis, or Salah al-Din Axis, is given to a strip that extends on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, and is located within the buffer zone “D” under the peace agreement. The axis extends from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south, with a length of about 14 kilometers.
In the Camp David Treaty, clauses of a security and military nature were included to ensure that there would be no escalation between the two countries. Among these clauses was the establishment of a buffer zone on both sides of the recognized international borders.
