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Israel-Egypt Barrier

The 240 kilometer long border between Israel and Egypt was fenced. The fence was going to cost NIS 1.35 billion. The plan and the funding was initially approved by the Israeli cabinet in March 2010. The new barrier along the border with Egypt would be built in an effort to protect the country from terrorist infiltrations, drug smuggling, border infringement, and human trafficking. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the «quantity of infiltrators will only increase, given the economic attractiveness of Israel». The border is 240-kilometers long from the Kerem Shalom outpost near the Gaza Strip, to Eilat on the Red Sea, and the security fence will include electronic warning systems.

In July 2010 MK Yaakov "Ketzele" Katz and MK Aryeh Eldad, both of the National Union Party decided to postpone the vote on the law authorizing the building of a border fence between Israel and Egypt. The delay came in order to allow the government to decide on the appeal submitted by the Minister of Finance, Yuval Steinitz. MK Katz heads a committee on the issue of illegal foreign workers entering Israel. Most immigrate from Africa through the border of Egypt. Some Knesset Members felt the fence will be too expensive.

Per the Camp David Accords, military border guards are not allowed on the Israel border. Border guards are allowed on the Gaza border and operate in central Sinai, at a significant distance from the Israel border area. Ministry of Interior border police officers man the 266 kilometer (141 mile) Egypt-Israel border area.

Egypt's border with Israel serves as a crossing point for African migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees searching for a better life in Israel and the West. The same border area also serves as a key transit point in the flow of illegal goods, drugs, and humans being trafficked to Gaza and Israel. Hafez Abou Seada, Director of the Egyptian Organization (EOHR) for Human Rights, told us on September 16 that interviews with migrants and asylum seekers, captured at the border and now being held in Sinai prisons, revealed that the route for "traffickers" and "smugglers" was the same. The African prisoners told EOHR representatives that goods and people are sometimes moved together and other times separately. According to Abu Seada, interviews revealed four nodal points in the movement of migrants. Migrants began their journey in Cairo, traveled to Ismailia where they crossed the Suez Canal, were taken by Bedouin across central Sinai to Bir Hassana, and from there to the Israel border. Migrants and asylum seekers told EOHR that Bedouin traffickers killed some African migrants for failing to pay the full cost of transit.

Relations between the Sinai Bedouin and the Government of Egypt (GoE) are historically tense. The Bedouin in central Sinai have few economic opportunities to dissuade them from smuggling drugs, food, weapons, and humans across borders into Israel and Gaza to support their families. Clan and family ties on both sides of the Egypt-Israel and Egypt-Gaza borders help facilitate the smuggling business. Recent Egyptian counter-tunneling measures in the Gaza border area appear to have reduced the flow of goods into Gaza and the incomes Sinai Bedouin gain from it. This may have increased overland traffic and tensions between Bedouin clans and Egyptian border guards along the Israel border.

On 02 January 2013 Israel completed the construction of the 230-kilometer (140 mile)-long security fence along the Egyptian border. Following the cabinet meeting on on 07 July 2013, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the following remarks: ... "in the first half of the year, only 34 illegal migrants crossed the border. This is in comparison with 9,570 in the same period last year. We are talking about a reduction of over 99%. The fence that we built is making a significant contribution to blocking illegal migration to Israel. In practice, nobody has entered and the few who have arrived did not reach Israel's cities. The fence has completely stopped illegal migration to Israel, but it also has an additional function - namely counter-terrorism. You must remember that this fence is equipped with very advanced means. There is also a doctrine being developed to protect the State of Israel against the double threat of illegal migration and terrorism from Sinai. I think that every passing day underscores how correct and how important the decision was to build the fence in the south."

The Interior Ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority said 30 October 2016 that over the previous six months not one African asylum seeker had illegally entered Israel by climbing the border fence with Egypt. So far in 2016 only 18 African asylum seekers had entered the country without permits, the authority added. Since the beginning of 2013, only 302 people have made it over the border fence, compared with the thousands who entered Israel annually until 2012, when the fence was completed and the country’s new law on migrants was passed.

The fence is equipped with modern security systems and is designed to prevent Islamic militants, drug dealers, African migrants and asylum seekers from entering Israel from Egypt. The construction took two years and cost approximately $420 million. "This is a great achievement. You did the impossible. I would like to convey to you the gratitude of all Israelis," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the completion of the fence. "For seven months, not one infiltrator has reached Israel's cities,” Netanyahu said.

"The result of building the fence is that we have completely stopped the entry of infiltrators into Israel. In the past seven months, no infiltrators entered Israel's cities. Several dozen reached the fence each month and were taken to holding facilities. Not one infiltrator reached any community or city inside Israel. This was one of the largest engineering enterprises in the history of the State of Israel and I have directed that this team not be disbanded, but that it continue until the section in the area around Eilat is finished, which will occur in another few weeks, and even continue work along other borders, especially our border with Syria." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the construction of two fences along the Israel-Egypt and Israel-Gaza Strip borders where it is easy for terrorists and illegal immigrants to cross. In November 2010 the Defense Ministry ordered construction crews to establish a fence and barrier along the 200-kilometer border with Egypt. The first phase of the project, delayed for years, would cost $47 million and be completed by 2012. Some estimates suggest that 17,000 to 19,000 illegal immigrants have come into Israel via the southern border since 2005.

Since 2007 there has been a significant rise in the number of illegal border crossings into Israel across the Israel-Egypt border. This has resulted in the creation of a permanent group in Israel of infiltrators and asylum seekers who have received a temporary residency status since they are people who, in conformity with the UN Refugee Convention, may not be expelled. Some of those have been declared asylum seekers who, as a recognized group, have the right to temporary humanitarian protection. Infiltrators and asylum seekers from Africa pay ever increasing sums of money (about 2,000 to 2,500 US dollars per person) in exchange for being smuggled over the Israel-Egyptian border. In addition to this payment, some of the infiltrators and asylum seekers are held until they pay a ransom and are forced to pay significant additional sums in order to cross the border. At Saharonim, the infiltrators are held for a specific period of time, are registered and are given a hearing. The facility was opened in 2007 and was initially intended for 100 asylum seekers at most. By January 2011 there were 2,000 places in the facility and it was full.

Israel has been confronted with repeated terrorist attacks since its inception as a country. They are constructing a fence to deter terrorists that use the unsecured open border between Israel and Egypt as an easily accessible passageway into the country. The perpetrators of these attacks have often walked across the border and detonated bombs that have killed and injured hundreds. In recent years, Israel’s construction of a security fence along its border with the West Bank has denied terrorists easy access to the country and has significantly decreased the frequency of terrorist attacks. The Israel Security Agency reported 1,309 terrorist attacks in 2006, 946 terrorist attacks in 2007, 893 terrorist attacks in 2008, and 636 terrorist attacks in 2009.

As an immediate solution to the infiltration, and in an attempt to stop the flow into Israel, the Government passed Resolution no. 1506 on 14 March 2010 on "Constructing a barrier on Israel's western border." An inter-ministerial group, headed by the Director General of the Prime Minister's Office, was set up by the Government, which is monitoring the implementation of the Resolution. In mid November 2010, the construction of the barrier began. At a meeting of the Committee on Foreign Workers on 22 November 2010, the Director General of the Ministry of Defence, Udi Shani, announced that the fence is to be erected, at this stage, along 140 of the 250 km. length of the border; part of the route of the border will be closed with a physical barrier and part through electronic means.

Officials said a key problem would be the construction of a barrier on shifting sands with high winds. Officials said the entire barrier would cost 1.35 billion shekel, or $371 million, and was designed to stop massive infiltration from neighboring Egypt. The Interior Ministry had been lobbying the government to construct a prison for illegal migrants. The ministry said 1,100 infiltrators per month were entering southern Israel from Egypt. The military said the fence would span 240 kilometers from Keren Shalom in the north until Taba in the south. Parts of the border would comprise only a physical barrier, while others would also contain sensors.

The Government is implementing a plan to add an extra 1,000 places to the Saharonim facility and to establish an additional facility with 8-10,000 places for infiltrators and asylum seekers. The new facility will be six small facilities, each of them for between one and two thousand people. Each facility will be divided into a residential section and a section with special buildings for education, health, teaching and instruction and cultural activities, as well as a section where meetings will be held between the residents of the facility and representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, international organizations, foreign embassy representatives, lawyers and other individuals. In addition, areas will be prepared for cultural and leisure activities and sport. The facility will not be built like a prison or detention centre but it will be surrounded by a fence.

Defense Minister Yoav Galant proposed to his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, who visited Tel Aviv in late December 2023, the establishment of an underground wall in the Rafah area in Egyptian territory, to separate it from the Gaza Strip, with American funding.

The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth , which reported the news on Thursday, pointed out that the wall will be equipped with advanced technology, cameras, sensors, etc., to provide joint information to the Egyptian and Zionist sides regarding what is happening in the Gaza Strip, and to prevent the establishment of tunnels between Gaza and Egyptian territory similar to the wall he built. The entity after the attack on Gaza in 2014.

It is expected that the Ministerial Council for Political and Security Affairs (Cabinet) will discuss the issue soon, to make a decision on it, taking Cairo’s position into account.

The newspaper stated that Cairo opposes an Israeli ground operation in the Rafah area for several reasons, including the Palestinians taking refuge from Gaza into Egyptian territory, noting that one of the goals of establishing this obstacle on the Egyptian side is so that “Israel is not forced to carry out a large-scale military operation in the Rafah area,” in A time when I confirmed that the Israeli army is content at this stage with focused attacks from the air and not a ground operation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on 30 December 2023 that the border area known as the “Philadelphia axis” between Egypt and the Gaza Strip should be under Israeli control, in a move that the Israelis see as aiming to ensure that weapons do not enter Gaza, while observers consider it a “complicated” issue. And just “an attempt to please the Israeli right” amid the continuation of military operations in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu said during a press conference: “The Philadelphia axis, or more precisely the southern stopping point (in Gaza), must be under our control. It must be closed. It is clear that any other arrangement will not guarantee the disarmament we seek.” This axis is the border strip extending between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, which is also known as the “Salah al-Din Axis.” It is a buffer zone under the peace agreement concluded between Egypt and Israel in 1979, and its length is 14 km. Netanyahu did not go into details, but taking such a step would be considered a de facto reversal of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, which would place the enclave under exclusive Israeli control after its management for years by Hamas, according to Reuters. Netanyahu's statements regarding this buffer zone came at a time when the Israeli military forces were moving forward with an attack, which the Prime Minister reiterated would continue "for many more months." Why Philadelphia? Visiting professor at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Sayed Ghoneim, said that Israel’s endeavor to control the Philadelphia axis “as soon as possible” is to “tighten the noose on the Palestinian factions and prevent any of their members from leaving Egypt, and to ensure that no needs are smuggled into the country.” Or any things by them abroad.” Ghoneim pointed out in statements to the Al-Hurra website that Egypt had previously "redeployed its forces in Sinai years ago in the context of combating terrorism," pointing out the need for coordination so that the matter could be done "without crises occurring" between the two sides. Rafah crossing, Philadelphia axis Netanyahu: The "Philadelphia Axis" must be under Israel's control Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference on Saturday evening that Hamas must be eliminated before the “post-war” discussion, adding that “the Israeli army is the one that will disarm Hamas.” It is noteworthy that most of the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip were displaced to the south of the Strip due to the military operation launched by Israel since October 7, following the Hamas attack on towns in southern Israel. More than 21,000 people were killed, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip, due to Israeli military operations, according to health authorities in the Strip. These operations began following the attack by Hamas (listed on the US terrorist lists) on October 7, which resulted in the killing of about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including women and children, and the kidnapping of about 240 by the Palestinian movement and transporting them to the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli authorities. On October 27, Israel also began a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, which it said was targeting the tunnel network and Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip. It had already announced the killing of thousands (of militants) and the destruction of many tunnels. However, despite this, the process of launching rockets towards Israeli areas continues, and the most prominent Hamas leaders are still far from Israel’s control. For his part, Yoni Ben Menachem, an analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Arab Affairs, said in an analysis for the Israeli institution on Thursday that there is a “sensitive” importance to the Philadelphia Corridor, noting that security estimates in Israel indicate that it is “a major route for smuggling weapons from Egypt to Hamas.” . He added that controlling the corridor "effectively cuts off the only land link between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which may lead to obstructing movement between the two sides through the tunnel network." Egypt previously announced the destruction of the border tunnels with the Gaza Strip. Confirming that they were indeed destroyed, Palestinian analyst Ashraf Al-Akka said: “If those tunnels had existed until now, we would not have entered into a humanitarian crisis, as aid and medical tools would have been brought into the Strip.” He added in statements to Al-Hurra website: “Egypt has already flooded and destroyed the tunnels, and Netanyahu is trying to use excuses and find justifications to please the extreme right, especially Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.” How can Israel control the axis? Ghoneim explained to Al-Hurra that if “Israel decides to invade the Philadelphia Line, it will carry out sweeping operations on the border strip with Egypt, in the context of its war in Gaza, and will continue the air, sea, artillery and missile fire bombardment on the city of Rafah and the neighborhoods adjacent to the southern border, and it will focus on suspicious targets on the strip.” border inside the Gaza Strip. The Philadelphia Corridor represents the border strip between Gaza and Egypt. Archive The Philadelphia Corridor represents the border strip between Gaza and Egypt. Archive He explained that this step is followed by "carrying out combing operations from south to north and vice versa, and from east to west and vice versa, with the aim of reaching the largest number of members of the Palestinian factions." As the visiting professor at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels explained, the combing is carried out “by means of reconnaissance, drones, members of the Special Forces, bulldozers carrying electronic machine guns, armored vehicles, and tanks.” He noted that the Israeli ground forces will have to work to “comb all the areas on the border strip, where homes and suspicious places will be searched and examined to search for tunnels, and Israel will seek to control those areas to secure them and create dirt berms along the border line with Egypt inside the Strip.” "It secures it as if it were part of Israel." For its part, the Israeli analysis indicated that “controlling the southern border through the Philadelphia corridor would complete the encirclement of the Gaza Strip, which is a strategic step that has implications for the demilitarization of the region after the conflict.” In turn, Ben Menachem pointed out that “Israel tried to advance towards the corridor on December 23, but Hamas repelled the attack. The Israeli Air Force also targeted the movement’s positions along the corridor.” He considered that Netanyahu's statements about controlling the region indicate that "Israel is decisive in this decision, affirming its commitment to completely besieging the Gaza Strip." What does the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel say? No official statements were issued by Egypt to comment on what Netanyahu issued, but a member of the Egyptian House of Representatives, writer Mustafa Bakri, said in a post on the “X” platform that the Israeli Prime Minister’s statements are “a blatant attack on the peace agreement between the two countries,” warning him of “ approaching,” and that “the Egyptian border is a red line.” He called on the Egyptian authorities to submit “an official protest and a public warning, because this represents a violation of the peace agreement signed between the two countries, an attack on Egyptian sovereignty, and a suffocation of Gaza, making it live in a large prison, imposing a permanent siege on it... and opening the way for the displacement of Palestinians to Sinai.” . The Rafah crossing is located within the Philadelphia corridor. Archive What is the "Philadelphia" axis that Israel seeks to control? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that his country must take full control of the Philadelphia border axis between Egypt and Gaza to ensure “demilitarization” in the region, while the army continued its incursion into areas of the central and southern Gaza Strip. In turn, the Palestinian analyst, Al-Akka, said that at the present time “there cannot be coordination between Egypt and Israel in light of the ongoing war,” noting that “the presence of Israeli forces on the axis is an assault on Egyptian sovereignty and national security.” He pointed out that controlling the axis is a “complex issue,” adding: “There are two dimensions to this matter. The first is linked to Egypt, and the second is to the resistance (Hamas is classified as a terrorist movement), which is still cohesive and can direct strikes at the Israeli army where it is stationed.” The Camp David Agreement allows Israel and Egypt to deploy forces limited in number and equipment and limited in numbers and types of weapons and vehicles on that axis, with the aim of carrying out patrols on the Egyptian side of the axis, to prevent smuggling, infiltration, and other criminal activities. The agreement provides an Israeli presence within this buffer strip, the “Philadelphia axis,” which is located within Area D in accordance with Annex I, the Protocol on Israeli Withdrawal and Security Arrangements, which allows the presence of a limited Israeli military force of 4 infantry battalions, field fortifications, and United Nations observers. The Israeli force does not include any presence of tanks, artillery, or missiles, except for individual “surface-to-air” missiles. Dangerous for Egypt? The Israeli forces controlled this Area D, including the Philadelphia axis, until their withdrawal from it and handing it over to the Palestinian Authority in 2005. To arrange an Egyptian presence for border guard forces, a new agreement was signed known as the “Philadelphia Agreement,” which is in line with the “Crossings Between Israel and the Authority” agreement. "Palestinian", which was signed in the same year. Israel signed the Philadelphia Agreement with Egypt as part of the Camp David Agreement, which specified a distance of 14 kilometers as a buffer strip along the border between Egypt and Gaza. The agreement came after the Israeli Knesset approved in 2004 a decision to withdraw all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, which entered into force in August 2005. The agreement allowed Israeli-Egyptian security coordination, an Egyptian security presence from the border guard forces along the Philadelphia Strip, and patrols from both sides. It stipulates that the Egyptian presence in this region is “to combat terrorism and cross-border infiltration” and is not intended for any military purpose, and that this agreement will not change or amend the main peace agreement with Egypt by keeping Area C demilitarized, and considering the Philadelphia Agreement as “ A security protocol to ensure that there is no Egyptian military presence near the Israeli border. Under an agreement with Israel, 750 soldiers (from a force that is not military but police) patrol along the border, armed with light weapons and armored vehicles, in addition to an unspecified number of unarmed police officers. Israel rejects the presence of a Palestinian administration in the Gaza Strip after the end of the war Between Netanyahu and Gallant's statements... Will the Gaza Strip turn into a "new bank"? While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was speaking, saying that his country would be solely responsible for security in Gaza after the war, Defense Minister Yoav Galant came out to confirm that Israel does not intend to remain there permanently. Two years before their withdrawal, the Israelis built a cement and metal wall 7 kilometers long and 8 meters high to isolate the two parts of the city of Rafah, which was divided into two parts following the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Gaza. Ghoneim believed that from the perspective of the risks to Egypt, “the presence of the Israelis on the border line with Egypt inside Gaza is like their presence on the border line with Egypt outside Gaza.” He continued to Al-Hurra: “The Israeli fighter plane, naval vessels, artillery, or missiles that direct strikes in Rafah and Khan Yunis at a distance of less than 1 km to 10 km from the Egyptian border, there is no difference between them (in terms of impact on Egypt) and an armored vehicle, bulldozer, or... An occupation army tank enters either of the two areas or moves along the border line inside Palestinian Rafah. The danger is the same and has not increased or decreased toward the Egyptian border and to Egyptian national security since the night of October 27/28, that is, with the incursion of the first Israeli tank into the Gaza Strip.” This axis is the border strip extending between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, which is also known as the “Salah al-Din Axis.” It is a buffer zone under the peace agreement concluded between Egypt and Israel in 1979, and its length is 14 km. Netanyahu did not go into details, but taking such a step would be considered a de facto reversal of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, which would place the enclave under exclusive Israeli control after its management for years by Hamas, according to Reuters. Netanyahu's statements regarding this buffer zone came at a time when the Israeli military forces were moving forward with an attack, which the Prime Minister reiterated would continue "for many more months." Why Philadelphia? Visiting professor at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Sayed Ghoneim, said that Israel’s endeavor to control the Philadelphia axis “as soon as possible” is to “tighten the noose on the Palestinian factions and prevent any of their members from leaving Egypt, and to ensure that no needs are smuggled into the country.” Or any things by them abroad.” Ghoneim pointed out in statements to the Al-Hurra website that Egypt had previously "redeployed its forces in Sinai years ago in the context of combating terrorism," pointing out the need for coordination so that the matter could be done "without crises occurring" between the two sides. Rafah crossing, Philadelphia axis Netanyahu: The "Philadelphia Axis" must be under Israel's control Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference on Saturday evening that Hamas must be eliminated before the “post-war” discussion, adding that “the Israeli army is the one that will disarm Hamas.” It is noteworthy that most of the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip were displaced to the south of the Strip due to the military operation launched by Israel since October 7, following the Hamas attack on towns in southern Israel. More than 21,000 people were killed, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip, due to Israeli military operations, according to health authorities in the Strip. These operations began following the attack by Hamas (listed on the US terrorist lists) on October 7, which resulted in the killing of about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including women and children, and the kidnapping of about 240 by the Palestinian movement and transporting them to the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli authorities. On October 27, Israel also began a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, which it said was targeting the tunnel network and Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip. It had already announced the killing of thousands (of militants) and the destruction of many tunnels. However, despite this, the process of launching rockets towards Israeli areas continues, and the most prominent Hamas leaders are still far from Israel’s control. For his part, Yoni Ben Menachem, an analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Arab Affairs, said in an analysis for the Israeli institution on Thursday that there is a “sensitive” importance to the Philadelphia Corridor, noting that security estimates in Israel indicate that it is “a major route for smuggling weapons from Egypt to Hamas.” . He added that controlling the corridor "effectively cuts off the only land link between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which may lead to obstructing movement between the two sides through the tunnel network." Egypt previously announced the destruction of the border tunnels with the Gaza Strip. Confirming that they were indeed destroyed, Palestinian analyst Ashraf Al-Akka said: “If those tunnels had existed until now, we would not have entered into a humanitarian crisis, as aid and medical tools would have been brought into the Strip.” He added in statements to Al-Hurra website: “Egypt has already flooded and destroyed the tunnels, and Netanyahu is trying to use excuses and find justifications to please the extreme right, especially Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.” How can Israel control the axis? Ghoneim explained to Al-Hurra that if “Israel decides to invade the Philadelphia Line, it will carry out sweeping operations on the border strip with Egypt, in the context of its war in Gaza, and will continue the air, sea, artillery and missile fire bombardment on the city of Rafah and the neighborhoods adjacent to the southern border, and it will focus on suspicious targets on the strip.” border inside the Gaza Strip. The Philadelphia Corridor represents the border strip between Gaza and Egypt. Archive The Philadelphia Corridor represents the border strip between Gaza and Egypt. Archive He explained that this step is followed by "carrying out combing operations from south to north and vice versa, and from east to west and vice versa, with the aim of reaching the largest number of members of the Palestinian factions." As the visiting professor at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels explained, the combing is carried out “by means of reconnaissance, drones, members of the Special Forces, bulldozers carrying electronic machine guns, armored vehicles, and tanks.” He noted that the Israeli ground forces will have to work to “comb all the areas on the border strip, where homes and suspicious places will be searched and examined to search for tunnels, and Israel will seek to control those areas to secure them and create dirt berms along the border line with Egypt inside the Strip.” "It secures it as if it were part of Israel." For its part, the Israeli analysis indicated that “controlling the southern border through the Philadelphia corridor would complete the encirclement of the Gaza Strip, which is a strategic step that has implications for the demilitarization of the region after the conflict.” In turn, Ben Menachem pointed out that “Israel tried to advance towards the corridor on December 23, but Hamas repelled the attack. The Israeli Air Force also targeted the movement’s positions along the corridor.” He considered that Netanyahu's statements about controlling the region indicate that "Israel is decisive in this decision, affirming its commitment to completely besieging the Gaza Strip." What does the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel say? No official statements were issued by Egypt to comment on what Netanyahu issued, but a member of the Egyptian House of Representatives, writer Mustafa Bakri, said in a post on the “X” platform that the Israeli Prime Minister’s statements are “a blatant attack on the peace agreement between the two countries,” warning him of “ approaching,” and that “the Egyptian border is a red line.” He called on the Egyptian authorities to submit “an official protest and a public warning, because this represents a violation of the peace agreement signed between the two countries, an attack on Egyptian sovereignty, and a suffocation of Gaza, making it live in a large prison, imposing a permanent siege on it... and opening the way for the displacement of Palestinians to Sinai.” . The Rafah crossing is located within the Philadelphia corridor. Archive What is the "Philadelphia" axis that Israel seeks to control? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that his country must take full control of the Philadelphia border axis between Egypt and Gaza to ensure “demilitarization” in the region, while the army continued its incursion into areas of the central and southern Gaza Strip. In turn, the Palestinian analyst, Al-Akka, said that at the present time “there cannot be coordination between Egypt and Israel in light of the ongoing war,” noting that “the presence of Israeli forces on the axis is an assault on Egyptian sovereignty and national security.” He pointed out that controlling the axis is a “complex issue,” adding: “There are two dimensions to this matter. The first is linked to Egypt, and the second is to the resistance (Hamas is classified as a terrorist movement), which is still cohesive and can direct strikes at the Israeli army where it is stationed.” The Camp David Agreement allows Israel and Egypt to deploy forces limited in number and equipment and limited in numbers and types of weapons and vehicles on that axis, with the aim of carrying out patrols on the Egyptian side of the axis, to prevent smuggling, infiltration, and other criminal activities. The agreement provides an Israeli presence within this buffer strip, the “Philadelphia axis,” which is located within Area D in accordance with Annex I, the Protocol on Israeli Withdrawal and Security Arrangements, which allows the presence of a limited Israeli military force of 4 infantry battalions, field fortifications, and United Nations observers. The Israeli force does not include any presence of tanks, artillery, or missiles, except for individual “surface-to-air” missiles. Dangerous for Egypt? The Israeli forces controlled this Area D, including the Philadelphia axis, until their withdrawal from it and handing it over to the Palestinian Authority in 2005. To arrange an Egyptian presence for border guard forces, a new agreement was signed known as the “Philadelphia Agreement,” which is in line with the “Crossings Between Israel and the Authority” agreement. "Palestinian", which was signed in the same year. Israel signed the Philadelphia Agreement with Egypt as part of the Camp David Agreement, which specified a distance of 14 kilometers as a buffer strip along the border between Egypt and Gaza. The agreement came after the Israeli Knesset approved in 2004 a decision to withdraw all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, which entered into force in August 2005. The agreement allowed Israeli-Egyptian security coordination, an Egyptian security presence from the border guard forces along the Philadelphia Strip, and patrols from both sides. It stipulates that the Egyptian presence in this region is “to combat terrorism and cross-border infiltration” and is not intended for any military purpose, and that this agreement will not change or amend the main peace agreement with Egypt by keeping Area C demilitarized, and considering the Philadelphia Agreement as “ A security protocol to ensure that there is no Egyptian military presence near the Israeli border. Under an agreement with Israel, 750 soldiers (from a force that is not military but police) patrol along the border, armed with light weapons and armored vehicles, in addition to an unspecified number of unarmed police officers. Israel rejects the presence of a Palestinian administration in the Gaza Strip after the end of the war Between Netanyahu and Gallant's statements... Will the Gaza Strip turn into a "new bank"? While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was speaking, saying that his country would be solely responsible for security in Gaza after the war, Defense Minister Yoav Galant came out to confirm that Israel does not intend to remain there permanently. Two years before their withdrawal, the Israelis built a cement and metal wall 7 kilometers long and 8 meters high to isolate the two parts of the city of Rafah, which was divided into two parts following the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Gaza. Ghoneim believed that from the perspective of the risks to Egypt, “the presence of the Israelis on the border line with Egypt inside Gaza is like their presence on the border line with Egypt outside Gaza.” He continued to Al-Hurra: “The Israeli fighter plane, naval vessels, artillery, or missiles that direct strikes in Rafah and Khan Yunis at a distance of less than 1 km to 10 km from the Egyptian border, there is no difference between them (in terms of impact on Egypt) and an armored vehicle, bulldozer, or... An occupation army tank enters either of the two areas or moves along the border line inside Palestinian Rafah. The danger is the same and has not increased or decreased toward the Egyptian border and to Egyptian national security since the night of October 27/28, that is, with the incursion of the first Israeli tank into the Gaza Strip.”

Reuters quoted three Egyptian security sources 09 January 2024 as saying that Egypt rejected an Israeli proposal to strengthen Israeli supervision of the buffer zone on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. An expert comments on Israel's request to deploy surveillance cameras near the Egyptian border The sources explained to Reuters that “Cairo gives priority to efforts to mediate a ceasefire before working on post-war arrangements.” Egypt shares a 13-kilometre border with Gaza, which is the only border of the Gaza Strip that is not directly controlled by Israel. Egypt, along with Qatar, also played a prominent role in the talks to broker a new ceasefire in Gaza and reach an agreement to release Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The Egyptian sources added that during these talks, Israel contacted Egypt to secure the narrow Philadelphia axis buffer zone along the border, as part of Israeli plans to prevent future attacks. Reuters quoted an Israeli official as saying that joint monitoring of the Philadelphia axis with Egypt was among the issues the two countries discussed. In response to a question about whether Egypt refused, the Israeli official said: “I am not aware of that.” While Egyptian sources confirmed that Israeli officials did not discuss the issue of control of the axis during the current ceasefire talks, but instead asked to participate in monitoring the region, including by sharing the use of new surveillance technology that Israel will purchase. The sources indicated that Egyptian negotiators rejected the idea, but Egypt reinforced barriers on its side of the border. On Monday, Cairo News Channel reported, citing an unidentified source, that recent reports about planned cooperation between Egypt and Israel regarding the axis are not true. The Israeli i24NEWS channel revealed sharp disagreements between Egypt and Israel due to Tel Aviv’s demands to control the Philadelphia Axis (Salah al-Din Axis), adjacent to the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip. Egypt responded 22 Jsnuary 2024 to Israel's allegations that weapons smuggling operations take place via trucks carrying aid and goods to the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, and considered this merely "empty and ridiculous nonsense." Egypt warns Israel: Any move to reoccupy the Philadelphia axis will lead to a serious and serious threat to relationsAl-Sisi during a call with Biden: Egypt did not and will not allow the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egyptian territory Egypt denies the validity of reports about its cooperation with Israel to deploy surveillance and sensor devices in the Philadelphia axis Hebrew media: Israel is preparing to fight on the Egyptian border The Egyptian Information Service said on Monday that Israel is content with the accusations sent to Egypt without any evidence. She added that Israel's continued marketing of these lies is an attempt to create legitimacy for its attempt to occupy the Philadelphia Corridor or the Salah al-Din Corridor, in the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt, in violation of the security agreements and protocols signed between it and Egypt. The commission said: “It must be strictly emphasized that any Israeli move towards reoccupying the Philadelphia axis will lead to a serious and serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations.” She stressed that "Egypt is capable of defending its interests and sovereignty over its land and borders, and will not mortgage it in the hands of a group of extremist Israeli leaders who seek to drag the region into a state of conflict and instability." The SIS warned, “This Egyptian red line joins the previous one that Egypt has repeatedly declared, which is the categorical rejection of forcibly or voluntarily displacing our Palestinian brothers to Sinai, which it will not allow Israel to cross.” She explained that these Israeli allegations and lies are a continuation of the policy of escaping forward followed by the Israeli government due to its successive failures in achieving its goals in its declared war on Gaza. The Commission called on the Israeli government to conduct serious investigations within its army, state agencies, and sectors of society, to search for those truly involved in smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip, including among them, for the purpose of profit. Many of the weapons currently inside the Strip are the result of smuggling from within Israel, such as M16 rifles and various types of rifles. RPG, as well as dual-use materials in the military manufacturing of the military wings in the Gaza Strip, and here it is sufficient to review what the Israeli media publishes about the investigations conducted with members of the Israeli army, against the backdrop of the disappearance or sale of weapons in the West Bank and from there they are sent to the Gaza Strip.” The Information Service affirmed “the Egyptian people’s full support and solidarity with the Palestinian cause,” and added, “This is certain and realistic without the slightest doubt, and is in line with Egypt’s official position in support of the rights of the Palestinian people in their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the borders of June 4, 1967.” https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-control-over--philadelphi-axis--threatens-relations



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