RSS
Claim Israel ‘Can Always Return’ to Philadelphi Corridor Baseless
Some rises after an Israeli strike as Israeli forces launch a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
JNS.org – In recent days it has emerged that the Israel Defense Forces has to date uncovered and blocked off 150 smuggling tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor sector of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, and the question of who will control this critical area has become a central sticking point during hostage negotiations with Hamas in Cairo.
The scope of the uncovered tunnel network marks a significant counter-terrorism success, yet simultaneously illustrates why Israel should be cautious about withdrawing from this strategic corridor, observers in Israel have told JNS.
According to Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of the Research and Assessment Division of Israel’s Military Intelligence and a senior research fellow at Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, if Israel were to withdraw, there would be a resurgence of arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza.
“The reality of so many tunnels under the corridor makes it clear that what will happen is a renewal of the smuggling of arms from Egypt to Gaza,” stated Kuperwasser, who is also a senior research fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs. “Why does Hamas so insist on this corridor, if nothing is supposed to happen?”
Kuperwasser also pointed out that relying on Egypt to prevent these smuggling activities has proven to be an unrealistic hope.
“It’s obvious that Israel can’t rely on the Egyptians. They promised and supposedly acted to prevent these smuggling activities, but in practice, you see the vast amounts of weapons Hamas has. Why should this change?”
Kuperwasser argued that the Egyptian interest remains the same—to avoid being perceived as fighting “Palestinian resistance.”
“They can’t afford to genuinely combat this smuggling,” he said. He further noted that as long as Palestinian smuggling activities continue, Israel remains dependent on Egypt, and this dependency can be exploited by Cairo.
“As long as the Palestinians attack Israel, Israel needs the Egyptians more,” he observed. “There is also apparently the aspect of sorts of people who made money from this activity,” Kuperwasser added. “A lot of money is involved.”
Kuperwasser also warned against the notion that foreign or Palestinian forces could effectively prevent future smuggling operations.
“We have already tried all these tricks; they never worked,” he stated, emphasizing that the flow of weapons into Gaza would resume if Israel withdraws from the Philadelphi Corridor. “There will be no clause in a future agreement in which Hamas commits itself not to smuggle weapons from Egypt. We, on the other hand, will be prevented from entering as an explicit clause in the agreement,” he added.
Kuperwasser stressed that an Israeli return to the corridor after a withdrawal would be nearly impossible due to political pressures.
“There will always be political conditions that will prevent us from returning. Israel may want to return, but won’t be able to. There will be American pressure. The Egyptians will say absolutely not. The Iranians will threaten to attack if we do,” he said.
As a result, Kuperwasser said, the Israeli military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor is essential to ensure that Hamas and other terror organizations in Gaza are not able to rebuild their massive terror infrastructure in Gaza.
He emphasized the need for Israel to establish an underground counter-tunnel barrier similar to the one built along the Israel-Gaza border and to maintain a military presence in the area to ensure its effectiveness.
Professor Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, highlighted that control over the corridor is synonymous with control over the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
“The Rafah Crossing has served as the main platform for smuggling weapons into Gaza, all with Egypt turning a blind eye,” he stated.
Abandoning the corridor and crossing before establishing monitoring and control mechanisms transparent to Israel means losing control over the corridor and crossing in the future,” he warned.
This control could be established, Michael argued, by creating a military presence at Rafah Crossing, or through building a meticulous sensor and surveillance system that is accessible to Israel and enables it operational freedom of movement.
Michael, too, dismissed as baseless the notion, often repeated by Israeli defense officials, that Israel could easily return to the corridor if needed. Drawing on past experiences after Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005, he said, “We couldn’t do it after the disengagement from Gaza in 2005, and we won’t be able to do it—or at least, it will be very difficult—after withdrawing from there,” he noted.
“Israel would face extensive international and American pressure, as well as Egyptian pressure, including threats to cancel the peace agreement.”
Michael emphasized the need for Israel to reach an understanding with the United States and Egypt regarding direct Israeli control over the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah Crossing until a barrier similar to the one along the Gaza border is completed, and until the Rafah Crossing is operated by a Palestinian element that is “not Hamas” and is under “international supervision that is fully transparent to Israel.”
The post Claim Israel ‘Can Always Return’ to Philadelphi Corridor Baseless first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Trump’s Travel Ban on 12 Countries Goes Into Effect Early Monday
US President Donald Trump attends the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump’s order banning citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States goes into effect at 12:01 am ET (0401 GMT) on Monday, a move the president promulgated to protect the country from “foreign terrorists.”
The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted.
Trump, a Republican, said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security, have an inability to verify travelers’ identities, as well as inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States.
He cited last Sunday’s incident in Boulder, Colorado, in which an Egyptian national tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new curbs are needed. But Egypt is not part of the travel ban.
The travel ban forms part of Trump’s policy to restrict immigration into the United States and is reminiscent of a similar move in his first term when he barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Officials and residents in countries whose citizens will soon be banned expressed dismay and disbelief.
Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said he had instructed his government to stop granting visas to US citizens in response to Trump’s action.
“Chad has neither planes to offer nor billions of dollars to give, but Chad has its dignity and its pride,” he said in a Facebook post, referring to countries such as Qatar, which gifted the U.S. a luxury airplane for Trump’s use and promised to invest billions of dollars in the U.S.
Afghans who worked for the US or US-funded projects and were hoping to resettle in the US expressed fear that the travel ban would force them to return to their country, where they could face reprisal from the Taliban.
Democratic US lawmakers also voiced concern about the policies.
“Trump’s travel ban on citizens from over 12 countries is draconian and unconstitutional,” said US Representative Ro Khanna on social media late on Thursday. “People have a right to seek asylum.”
The post Trump’s Travel Ban on 12 Countries Goes Into Effect Early Monday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israeli Military Says It Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a member of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in southern Syria’s Mazraat Beit Jin, days after Israel carried out its first airstrikes in the country in nearly a month.
Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike.
Israel said on Tuesday it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel for the first time under the country’s new leadership. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz held Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa accountable.
Damascus in response said reports of the shelling were unverified, reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party.
A little known group named “Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades,” an apparent reference to Hamas’ military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024, reportedly claimed responsibility for the shelling. Reuters, however, could not independently verify the claim.
The post Israeli Military Says It Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel Orders Military to Stop Gaza-Bound Yacht Carrying Greta Thunberg
FILE PHOTO: Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this picture released on June 2, 2025 on social media. Photo: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told the military on Sunday to stop a charity boat carrying activists including Sweden’s Greta Thunberg who are planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.
Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is currently off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.
“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen .. does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
“To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.”
Climate activist Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for humanitarian aid. She has rejected previous Israeli accusations of antisemitism.
Israel went to war with Hamas in October 2023 after the Islamist terrorists launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to the enclave.
Katz said the blockade was essential to Israel’s national security as it seeks to eliminate Hamas.
“The State of Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade on Gaza, whose primary purpose is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,” he said.
The Madleen is carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, the FFC has said.
FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said on Sunday the boat was currently some 160 nautical miles (296 km) from Gaza. “We are preparing for the possibility of interception,” she said.
Besides Thunberg, there are 11 other crew members aboard, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.
Israeli media have reported that the military plans to intercept the yacht before it reaches Gaza and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The crew would then be deported.
In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 people when they boarded a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, that was leading a small flotilla towards Gaza.
The post Israel Orders Military to Stop Gaza-Bound Yacht Carrying Greta Thunberg first appeared on Algemeiner.com.