Egypt is floating the idea of providing humanitarian aid to Gaza amid the Israel-Palestine war but shut down civilian corridor proposals.
Officials said they are discussing plans with the United States and others to provide aid through its border with the Gaza Strip, said Egyptian security sources on Wednesday. Gaza is a tiny coastal strip of land wedged between Israel in the north and east and Egypt in the southwest.
Egypt Floats Potential Gaza Aid
The area is home to roughly 2.3 million people living under a blockade since the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas took control of the region in 2007. For quite some time, Egypt has restricted the flow of Gazans into its territory, even during the fiercest conflicts in history.
Cairo, a frequent mediator between Israel and Palestinians, always insists that the two parties resolve conflicts within their borders. It says that this is the only way that Palestinians can secure their right to statehood, as per Reuters.
In a statement, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that Washington has been negotiating with Israel and Egypt regarding a safe passage for civilians from Gaza. This follows the area being struck by a massive Israeli assault in response to Hamas militant forces' deadly incursion into the Middle Eastern nation.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said these negotiations were ongoing. One of the Egyptian security sources, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that the country rejected the idea of safe corridors to protect the "right of Palestinians to hold on to their cause and their land."
Several Arab states still have camps for Palestinian refugees who are descendants of the ones who fled or left their homes during the war surrounding Israel's founding in 1948. Additionally, the Palestinians and other Arab states argued that a final peace deal needs to include the right of those refugees to return, which is a move that Israel has continuously rejected.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
The situation comes after a third attack on the Rafah crossing in 24 hours consisted of "four missiles." According to Aljazeera, these targeted the Palestinian side of the crossing, said the local Egyptian group Sinai for Human Rights on Tuesday.
Witnesses also noted that the second attack struck the no-man's land between the Egyptian and Palestinian gates. It allegedly damaged the hall on the latter's side, and the Israeli military could neither confirm nor deny any attack on the crossing "at this point."
Furthermore, Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, ordered a "complete siege" on the Gaza Strip. The announcement on Monday noted that Gaza would receive no electricity, food, water, or fuel following Hamas' attack.
Most commodities in Gaza, from foodstuffs to construction supplies, are imported from Israel through official border crossings. Additionally, the region gets most of its electricity via Israeli power lines and produces some at a power plant in Gaza using fuel that is imported from Israel, according to the New York Times.
