Egypt rejects Israeli forces remaining in Rafah during Gaza ceasefire

Egypt is objecting to Israeli plans to remain in southern Gaza during a potential temporary truce with Hamas as mediators continue to push for an end to the fighting.

Egyptian security officials – alongside Qatar and the United States – are trying to broker a ceasefire but have so far failed to bridge differences over a permanent end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

During the discussions Egyptian officials have expressed opposition to Israel’s demands for its forces to continue the occupation of Rafah during a truce, an Egyptian source familiar with the mediation efforts told Al Araby Al Jadeed, the Arabic-language sister site of The New Arab.

They have also opposed the Israeli military’s plans to drive hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to the south of the strip adjacent to the Egyptian border, seeing it as a clear threat to its national security, the official said.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz on Monday detailed plans to confine 600,000 Palestinians inside a concentration camp to be built on the ruins of Rafah.

The minister said that eventually the enclave’s entire 2.2 million inhabitants would be forced into the camp, where they would be encouraged to ‘voluntarily’ migrate to other countries.

Israel has occupied the Philadelphi corridor on the Gaza side of the Rafah border for more than a year in violation of the Camp David peace treaty and captured the entire Rafah governorate earlier this year.

Egypt has responded by moving military reinforcements to the Rafah border.

“Egypt considered this a first step in responding to Israeli violations as long as the matter did not cross the red lines to Egyptian security,” the official told Al Araby Al Jadeed.

They added that the government will seriously consider suspending the peace treaty if Israeli actions pose a serious threat to the country.

There have been concerns in Cairo since the start of the war about Israeli ambitions to force the Palestinians across the Rafah border into Egypt.

US President Donald Trump has attempted to pressure Egypt and Jordan into resettling displaced Palestinians as part of his scheme to build a ‘Riviera’ on top of the ruins of Gaza.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi repeatedly rejected the demands as a national security red line.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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