The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt may be the only hope for those seeking to escape from the Palestinian territory. The Palestinian territory has been under siege and airstrikes by Israel since the militant group Hamas carried out a deadly attack on the Israeli community on October 7. .
Thousands of Gaza civilians have been waiting for days at the Rafah crossing, the only exit not controlled by Israel, despite a series of airstrikes by Israeli forces near the Gaza border. .
No one from the Gaza Strip is allowed into Egypt, including many Canadians and other foreign nationals who are waiting to leave. But Canada, the United States and other governments are trying to negotiate with Egypt and Israel to ensure that their citizens can escape from the besieged enclave and that much-needed humanitarian aid is brought in.
Egypt says so, ready to allow Truckloads of supplies are being brought into Gaza, but experts say the Egyptian government may be reluctant to open its border gates to a torrent of refugees. Refugees need assistance and may include Hamas militants.
Contanza Muth, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s School of Public and International Affairs, said Rafah “has always been a very controversial issue” among Israelis, Palestinians and Egyptians.
featured videosOn the advice of the embassy, the Gazans with dual citizenship headed to the Rafah crossing in hopes of crossing into Egypt, but the gates were closed.
Muth says accepting significant numbers of new refugees is a big challenge for any government.
“You have to set up camps, and those camps have to have water, sanitation, medical care, food, and ultimately the kids have to go to school,” she told CBC News. told.
Egypt is already a host country 300,000 UN-registered refugees There are participants from dozens of countries, and 317,000 people arrived Muss said the government may be concerned about accepting large numbers of newly displaced people from Gaza “indefinitely” since conflict erupted in neighboring Sudan to the south earlier this year. Ta.
the Estimation More than 100,000 Palestinians already live in Egypt without legal status as citizens or refugees.
But Muth says Egypt has another concern: Hamas. It is considered a terrorist organization by the Egyptian government and is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed in Egypt.
Muss said many Palestinians do not have proper travel documents, making identification difficult, and Hamas fighters from the Sinai Peninsula, where Egypt has been fighting other Islamist groups, including ISIS, for years. It is said to be difficult to prevent civilians from operating hidden behind fleeing civilians.
Stephen A. Cook, a Middle East policy expert at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), said that “Egypt’s leaders believe that allowing large numbers of Palestinians into their territory will strengthen ties between extremist groups.” They are concerned.” I wrote it in the post on the think tank’s website.
Blockade cooperation
Egypt and Israel cooperate strategically and economically, and neighbors and former adversaries have also reached agreements on Gaza.
Since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Egypt has helped blockade the enclave, severely restricting the flow of people and goods. As with Gaza’s main border with Israel, restrictions may be eased but not lifted, and travelers must undergo security checks and lengthy checks to cross.
In 2008, Egypt began building a stone and cement wall as tens of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Sinai after Hamas breached its border fortifications.
Egypt has acted as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinian factions during past conflicts and periods of unrest. However, in such situations, countries close borders and prevent large-scale movement of people while allowing aid to enter the country and medical evacuees to leave.
Despite Israel’s heavy shelling of Gaza in response to Hamas attacks, Egypt has so far shown no signs of changing its approach.
featured videosAs the humanitarian situation in Gaza worsens, pressure is mounting on Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing for the influx of vital aid and the outflow of people. The National details why Egypt remains unmoved and how the situation will develop in the coming days.
