Amid warnings about a possible large-scale Israeli offensive on the city of Rafah – now a refuge center for civilians and an entry route for humanitarian aid – the Israeli army said Tuesday that it had taken control operation on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.
This is located on the border with Egypt, in the vicinity of the so-called Philadelphi corridor or route, a narrow strip of land 14 kilometers long that separates Gaza and Egypt.
The corridor is key to Benjamin Netanyahu’s military strategy because with it they could control the only border that connects Gaza with a territory that is not Israel.
The Israeli Prime Minister himself has revealed his intentions to take control of this route.
“The Philadelphi corridor… must be in our hands. It must be closed. It is clear that any other arrangement will not ensure the demilitarization we are seeking,” Netanyahu declared on December 30 of last year.
According to Jeremy Bowen, international editor of the BBC, Israel is betting on appropriating this corridor because it believes that, among other things, it could stop the construction of tunnels through which weapons could be smuggled.
If so, this would not be the first time that Israeli forces have patrolled the 100-meter-wide route. We will tell you its story – long and complex – below.
What is the Philadelphi corridor?
Egypt and Israel have been technically at peace since the late 1970s and share strong diplomatic, economic and security ties.
Among these security links, the Philadelphi corridor was established in 1979 as a “demilitarized buffer zone” between both countries.
“The Philadelphi corridor is a ‘no man’s land’ that extends along southern Gaza on the border with Egypt, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Kerem Shalom border crossing,” he told BBC Mundo. Lorenzo Navone, researcher at the University of Strasbourg and the Institut Convergences Migrations of France.
“The corridor was created in 1979 when Israel began to withdraw from the northern Sinai that it occupied until then, and together with Egypt they decided the exact border that would exist between them,” says the researcher specialized in the triple border of Egypt, Israel and the Strip. from Gaza.
The provisions of the peace treaty between both countries, signed after the Camp David Accords in Washington, established that the corridor would be controlled and patrolled by Israeli forces.
But over the years, The corridor has undergone numerous changes.
After the 1995 Oslo Accords, Israel was allowed to retain the security corridor.
But after Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the Philadelphia Agreement was signed with Egypt, authorizing Cairo to deploy 750 border guards along the corridor to patrol the border on the Egyptian side.
“Egypt was then left with ‘visual control’ of the corridor and the border crossing at the Rafah Crossing was operated by both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Egyptian authorities with the supervision of the European Union,” explains Lorenzo Navone.
But when Hamas won the elections and took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Israel imposed a blockade on the Strip. and together with Egypt they agreed to close the Rafah Pass.
Why is the corridor important?
One of the points of the Philadelphia Agreement signed by Egypt and Israel was to “contain terrorism, arms smuggling from Egypt to Gaza and the infiltration of criminal activities.”
It was also agreed to “deploy a designated force of border guards” along the Philadelphi route to patrol the border on the Egyptian side.
The agreement also established “continuous coordination between Israel and Egypt” in matters of operations and intelligence.
One of the purposes of the corridor was to prevent the movement of people and “illegal materials,” such as weapons and ammunition, between Egypt and the Strip.
But with the “total blockade” that Israel imposed on the Strip in 2007 when Hamas took power, hundreds of smuggling tunnels began to be built under the corridor.
Israel believes these tunnels played a key role in arming Hamas in the October 7 attack on its territory.
But Egypt has said that tunnels linking Gaza to the Sinai Peninsula, thought to be used by both sides to enter and exit Palestinian territory, were destroyed in 2013.
“For years, Egypt has been fighting a jihadist insurgency in its Sinai region, located in the northeast of the country, accusing Hamas of training Egyptian militants,” explains Alaa Ragaie, a journalist with the BBC Arabic Service in Cairo.
“Over the last 15 years, Egypt has taken steps to reinforce border security in this corridor from your sidebuilding a concrete wall along the border with Gaza in 2020,” he adds.
And there have also been reports that, as part of this strengthening of its border security, Egypt has expanded the length of the corridor.
“In 2014, Egypt began another campaign to demolish homes and buildings along its border to expand the Philadeplhi corridor,” says Lorenzo Navone.
“So today the area of land that included the corridor has almost doubled with the objective of being able to control the border and be able to keep the Palestinians in Gaza.”
“What was once a ‘no man’s land’ on the Gaza side of the border now also extends to the Egyptian side of the border,” he adds.
Fears for the future of Gaza
After the Hamas attack on October 7 and Israel’s response in the Gaza Strip to defeat the Palestinian militant group, many are wondering who will control the territory when the Israeli operation ends.
Some Israeli media have said that Benjamin Netanyahu plans to take control of the territory, including the Philadelphi Corridor, and impose another similar “buffer zone” on Gaza’s northern border with Israel.
Analysts emphasize that if Israel manages to take control of the corridor, the measure could constitute a violation of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
But Egypt’s main concern, experts say, is that Israel’s attacks on Gaza are pushing Palestinians ever closer to its border, which could lead to large numbers of refugees entering the country.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi has repeatedly said that Cairo will not allow the Palestinians to be displaced from their territory to Egypt.
Their fear is that Gazans will seek refuge in the Sinai Peninsula and that Israel will never let them return to the Strip.
Egypt says the displacement of civilians from Gaza to Egypt will compromise the Palestinian cause. But he is also strongly opposed to the idea because economic and security concerns.
“Egypt is currently an overpopulated country with a fragile economy and does not want a new mass of needy people to enter its territory,” says Lorenzo Navone.
“I think the only thing that could force Egypt to accept refugees would be some kind of economic agreement.”
“But even so it could only accept a limited number of Palestinian refugees, because mobilizing all the displaced would definitely be ethnic cleansing,” adds the researcher.
The situation on Gaza’s southern border and in Rafah comes as efforts to reach a negotiated solution to the crisis continue.
Hamas announced this Monday that it accepts a ceasefire proposal in Gaza made by Egypt and Qatarwhich has raised hopes about a pause in the conflict.
Hamas specified that the head of its political office, Ismail Haniya, communicated its decision to the Prime Minister of Qatar and the Egyptian Intelligence Minister.
The Qataris have been mediators in the possible hostage deal, sending their team back to Cairo so they can talk again about a ceasefire.
The announcement was welcomed with hope both in the Palestinian territories and in part of the international community.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that the ceasefire offer from Egypt and Qatar “falls far from the demands” of his government, although he agreed to negotiate and announced the sending of a delegation to the mediating countries.
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