For the first time since 2005, Israeli military vehicles entered the eastern side of the Philadelphia axis separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Tuesday.
The Israeli army said in a statement on Tuesday that the forces of the 401st Brigade achieved operational control over the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side. He added, “The forces cut off the Rafah crossing from the Salah al-Din axis, and now armored forces from the 401st Brigade are in complete control of the crossing.”
He pointed out that special units launched an attack on the eastern region of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, whose residents were forcibly evacuated. He pointed out that the forces are now conducting combing operations in the areas that were controlled.
Earlier today, Tuesday, Israeli vehicles entered the Rafah crossing, after last night witnessing violent bombardment in the vicinity of the crossing and hearing sounds of clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinian factions.
The director of information at the Rafah crossing, Wael Abu Mohsen, confirmed that travel had stopped and the entry of humanitarian aid through the crossing had stopped, coinciding with reports of an incursion into it by Israeli vehicles.
Meanwhile, a video clip was spread on social media showing an Israeli tank roaming inside the Rafah crossing, and other pictures showed the Israeli flag being raised atop flagpoles inside the crossing.
Thus, the Israeli forces penetrated the Philadelphia axis and took control of the crossing for the first time since their withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in mid-August 2005 and its handover to the then Palestinian Authority in accordance with the crossings agreement signed between the two sides.
Egypt demands restraint
For its part, Egypt expressed its condemnation of the Israeli military operation in Rafah and its control of the Palestinian side of the border crossing.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “Egypt condemned in the strongest terms the Israeli military operations in the Palestinian city of Rafah, and the resulting Israeli control over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.”
Egypt considered that this dangerous escalation threatens the lives of more than a million Palestinians who depend primarily on this crossing as it is the main lifeline of the Gaza Strip, and the safe outlet for the wounded and sick to exit to receive treatment, and for the entry of humanitarian and relief aid.
Cairo called on the Israeli side to exercise the utmost restraint and to avoid a policy of brinkmanship with long-term impact, which would threaten the fate of the strenuous efforts made to reach a sustainable truce inside the Gaza Strip.
Egypt also called on all influential international parties to intervene and exert the necessary pressure to defuse the current crisis and allow diplomatic efforts to achieve their desired results.
isolating area
It is worth noting that the Philadelphia Axis, also called the Salah al-Din Axis, is located along the border between Gaza and Egypt, and is within a buffer zone under the peace agreement signed at Camp David between Egypt and Israel in 1979. Its width does not exceed hundreds of meters, and extends 14.5 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea. Until the Kerem Shalom crossing.
According to the Camp David Accords, the border area (Philadelphia axis) is located within the Palestinian territories and is designated as the letter (D), and is subject to the control of the Israeli forces, which according to the agreement were designated as infantry battalions, up to 180 armored vehicles of all types, and a crew of 4,000 members. In addition to military installations and field fortifications.
The agreement prohibited the presence of any armed forces on the Egyptian lands adjacent to the Palestinian border, which was designated as the letter (C), and only allowed the Egyptian civil police to perform their regular duties with light weapons.
Israeli forces remained in control of the Philadelphia axis until Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in mid-August 2005 and handed it over to the Palestinian Authority, which granted supervision of the border areas and crossings, with observers from the European Union.
The disengagement plan (Israeli withdrawal from Gaza) stipulated that Israel would maintain a military presence along the border line separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt (Philadelphia axis) in the first stage.
This is to provide security protection that may require expanding the area in which military activities take place. The agreement made the evacuation of the area conditional on the security reality and Egyptian cooperation in reaching a reliable agreement.
In September 2005, the Philadelphia Agreement was signed between Israel and Egypt, which Israel considers a security annex to the 1979 peace treaty, and says is governed by its general principles and provisions.
The agreement includes the deployment of Egyptian forces on the border separating the Gaza Strip, estimated at about 750 border guard soldiers, and their mission is focused only on combating terrorism, cross-border infiltration, smuggling, and detecting tunnels.
Under this agreement, Israel withdrew from the Philadelphia axis and handed it over, along with the Rafah crossing, to the Palestinian Authority.
In 2007, the Hamas movement took control of the Gaza Strip, and the Philadelphia axis came under its control. Israel imposed a stifling siege on the Strip, which forced the Palestinians to cross the border strip towards Egypt to obtain food, drink and basic materials for their lives. As a result, the Egyptian forces imposed security in Philadelphia, then retreated. To its places.
With the tightening of the siege on the Gaza Strip for years, the Palestinians in Gaza dug hundreds of tunnels under the Philadelphia axis all the way to Egypt, forming a main route for importing their basic needs, before this phenomenon ended in 2014, followed a few years later by the official entry of goods from Egypt into Gaza through the Rafah crossing. .
The Philadelphia axis area is no longer devoid of Palestinian residents as it was during the period of the Israeli presence. Palestinian homes extended very close to the border fence and at some points were adjacent to it, with the exception of the areas east of the Rafah crossing and the area near the seashore.
Israeli insistence and Egyptian rejection
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on more than one occasion since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip, Israel’s desire to control the Philadelphia axis, which the Egyptian side announced its rejection on more than one occasion.
Last February, the head of the official Egyptian Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, said, “Any Israeli move toward occupying the Philadelphia or Salah al-Din Corridor in the Gaza Strip will lead to a serious and serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations, and Israel’s persistence in marketing these lies is an attempt to create legitimacy for its effort to occupy.” The Philadelphia Pass or the Saladin Pass.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid also said in previous statements that Egypt controls its borders (with Gaza) and controls them completely.
Abu Zeid added that these issues are subject to security and legal agreements, and any talk in this regard is subject to scrutiny and is responded to with declared positions, without further clarifications.
In light of the Egyptian rejection of Israeli control over the axis, Israeli Army Radio said on May 2 that Israel is examining alternatives to a large-scale operation in Rafah, but insists on carrying out an operation in the Philadelphia axis.
The radio added that the security services believe that, in any case, a targeted operation must be carried out on the Philadelphia axis to cut off Hamas’ smuggling routes.
This came in light of the warnings of the United Nations and many countries, including the United States, of catastrophic repercussions if Rafah was invaded, due to the presence of about 1.4 million displaced people there, while Israel claims that it is the last stronghold of the Hamas movement.
