- Ongoing negotiations between Israel and Egypt involve relocating displaced Palestinians from Gaza’s Rafah to northern areas.
- Israel seeks increased control over the Philadelphi corridor, a strategic border zone, with the aim of preventing displaced Palestinians from seeking refuge in Egypt.
Israel is currently in discussions with Egypt to broker an agreement that would involve relocating displaced Palestinians from Gaza’s Rafah to northern areas. Simultaneously, Israel aims to assert greater control over the strategically vital Philadelphi corridor, the border region between Egypt and Gaza, according to insights shared by security officials with the Israeli army’s radio channel on Thursday.
The proposed agreement is designed to dissuade over a million displaced Palestinians in Rafah from seeking refuge in Egypt, a scenario that has raised significant concerns in Cairo. In exchange, Israel seeks an expansion of its operational influence in the southern Palestinian region.
The Philadelphi corridor, a 14km-long and 100-metre-wide strip of land, officially fell under joint Egyptian-Palestinian Authority control after Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. However, Hamas assumed control of the Palestinian side in 2007, taking charge after seizing power in Gaza. Notably, various Palestinian groups, including Hamas, have utilised tunnels beneath the corridor for transporting supplies between Egypt and Gaza.
Israeli officials have consistently emphasised their resolve to regain control over the Philadelphi Corridor. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted this in a December press conference, stating, “The Philadelphi Corridor – or, to put it more accurately, the southern stoppage point [of Gaza] – must be in our hands.”
Security sources, as reported by Israeli radio, claim successful efforts to secure funding from an unnamed Arab Gulf country for the construction of underground walls to close these tunnels. However, the actualisation of this initiative remains contingent on obtaining approval from Egypt.
