8/5/2024–|Last updated: 5/8/202412:30 AM (Mecca time)
The Palestinian factions announced that they would not accept from any party the imposition of any form of guardianship on the Rafah crossing or any other, and they consider this a form of occupation, and they vowed to deal with the repercussions of any plan of this kind as they deal with the occupation.
This came in a statement today, Wednesday, by the “Follow-up Committee for National and Islamic Forces,” which includes most of the Palestinian factions, led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), the Islamic Jihad Movement, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Democratic Front.
The factions said in their statement that they followed what was reported in the media about a plan for an American security company to take over the management and monitoring of the Rafah land crossing, stressing their refusal to impose guardianship over the Rafah crossing from any party, regardless of the veracity of those reports.
In their statement, the factions called on “the Arab League and all Arab and Islamic countries, especially the brothers in the Arab Republic of Egypt, with the weight they represent at the international and regional levels, to reject any plans and attempts that affect Palestinian-Egyptian sovereignty at the Rafah crossing.”
It also called on “all parties to reject any form of cooperation with such plans,” stressing that “managing the internal situation is a purely Palestinian matter that is agreed upon nationally through established and agreed-upon mechanisms.”
An American company managing the crossing
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said yesterday, Tuesday, that there are understandings between Israel, Egypt, and the United States that stipulate that a private American security company will take over the management of the Rafah crossing, after the end of Israeli military operations in the city located on the border with Egypt.
The newspaper reported that the three countries agreed on this matter, but it is not yet clear which company will manage the crossing.
The Israeli government refused to comment on this news, while US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that he did not know anything about this issue.
It is noteworthy that the Israeli army advanced, the day before yesterday, Monday, as part of a “surprise operation.” To parts of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, and it also took control of the Rafah border crossing from the Palestinian side.
Reports stated that Israel reassured the United States and Egypt that the operation in Rafah would be limited, indicating that its only goal was to ensure that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) would no longer control the crossing. Tel Aviv also made it clear, according to these reports, that this would constitute a retreat for Hamas, which would not be able to impose taxes on goods coming into the Strip.