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How Cairo Is Failing the Palestinians
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, June 10, 2024. Photo: Amr Nabil/Pool via REUTERS
Egypt recently hosted top US and Israeli officials for Israel-Hamas ceasefire discussions. But nine months into a war that Hamas launched, Egypt has often exacerbated the conflict and largely evaded criticism for intensifying Palestinian suffering.
CIA director Bill Burns, top Biden Middle East advisor Brett McGurk, and senior Israel officials arrived in Cairo earlier this month to discuss a ceasefire deal, the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, and mechanisms for securing the Egypt-Gaza border.
The last element is pivotal for weakening Hamas. The terrorist group has imported much of its weaponry via tunnels underneath the Gaza-Egypt border. Shutting off that valve is central to Israel’s war plans. In May, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it discovered around 20 tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor, the strip of land that runs along the Egypt-Gaza border, most of which crossed into Egypt.
In 2013 and 2014, at the beginning of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s rule, Egypt reportedly destroyed more than 1,600 tunnels crisscrossing the Egypt-Gaza border. And in 2015, Egypt demolished thousands of homes on the Egyptian side of Rafah, along the border with Gaza, to prevent smuggling. However, in the years since, Egypt has become much laxer in anti-smuggling efforts, allowing Hamas to stockpile weapons.
There are several possible explanations for this reversal, including that it allowed Sisi to use the situation in Gaza as a tool for regional influence, keeping Egypt relevant in the Israeli-Palestinian arena as it competes with Qatar, Turkey, and Iran.
Embarrassment regarding his insufficient anti-smuggling efforts might explain why Sisi was so concerned about Israeli operations along the Egypt-Gaza border. For months, Rafah remained Hamas’ last bastion in Gaza. In May, Egypt warned of “dire consequences,” including downgraded bilateral relations, as Israel inched towards launching its Rafah offensive.
Egypt’s approach to Palestinian aid has also been worrisome. On October 12, just days after Hamas carried out its killing spree in southern Israel, Sisi stressed the importance of Palestinians remaining “steadfast and present on their lands.” In other words, Gazans were not welcome in Egypt. As over a million Palestinians gathered in Rafah in February, Egypt refused to allow them across the border into the Sinai.
Even wounded and sick Palestinians have largely not escaped this ban. In late June, Cairo allowed only a trickle of 19 Palestinians to enter Egypt for treatment. This was the first time in nearly two months that Egypt allowed wounded or sick Palestinians into the country. Recently, Egypt has reportedly refused to allow larger numbers of medical evacuations unless the Palestinians control the Gaza side of the border.
Egypt has justified its policies by claiming to fear that Israel would not allow Gazans to return after the fighting ended, pointing to the Palestinian experience in 1948. Egypt also argued that Hamas operatives would sneak into Sinai among refugees by posing as civilians and attacking Israel from Egyptian soil. Such developments would increase Israeli-Egyptian tensions.
When Cairo has let in Palestinians, it has reportedly exploited their suffering by charging exorbitant sums for entry permits. According to a New York Times report, an Egyptian tourism company with close ties to Egypt’s security establishment has been charging Gazans between $2,500 and $5,000 to exit the territory. According to NPR, on March 1 alone, 400 Palestinians paid around $1.3 million to exit through Egypt.
In recent months, Egypt has refused to coordinate with Israel on the entry of aid via the Rafah crossing, possibly to pressure Israel into making concessions to the Palestinians. Egypt wisely understands that international public opinion will castigate Israel for Palestinian suffering but ignore Egypt for adding to it.
To be sure, Israel has played down Egypt’s role as a spoiler, presumably to avoid embarrassing Egypt and thereby jeopardizing Israeli-Egyptian ties. Similarly, since 2007, Egypt and Israel coordinated on a blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, but only Israel received widespread criticism for it.
The lack of interest in Palestinian suffering not attributable to Israel was also apparent when around 3,000 or 4,000 Palestinians were killed in Syria’s civil war from 2011 to 2020, including approximately 500 or 600 Palestinians who died from torture. And in the Ein el-Hilweh camp in Lebanon, clashes between rival factions left 13 Palestinians dead in July 2023 and resumed in September.
You could be forgiven if you missed the street protests, university encampments, divestment calls, city council resolutions, or social media campaigns decrying these injustices; there weren’t any.
Egypt has frequently worsened Palestinian suffering, including by reportedly sabotaging Israel-Hamas ceasefire negotiations in May. As Egypt returns to the spotlight for the latest round of ceasefire negotiations, it is worth highlighting Egypt’s largely unhelpful role, even if Cairo receives a free pass in the court of public opinion.
David May (@DavidSamuelMay) is a research manager and senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Haisam Hassanein (@HaisamHassanei1) is an adjunct fellow. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
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Obituary: Elexis Schloss, 78, an Edmonton entrepreneur and philanthropist who also performed quiet acts of kindness
Elexis (Conn) Schloss, a vibrant entrepreneur and philanthropist who supported a wide array of causes, both in and beyond Edmonton, died in Victoria on Oct. 31. She was 78. Her […]
The post Obituary: Elexis Schloss, 78, an Edmonton entrepreneur and philanthropist who also performed quiet acts of kindness appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Saudi Arabia Ups Anti-Israel Rhetoric Amid Iran Rapprochement, Raising Questions About Abraham Accords Expansion
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a virtual cabinet meeting from his office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 28, 2024. Photo: Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler accused the Israeli military of committing “collective genocide” in Gaza while also pressing Israel to respect Iranian sovereignty, amid reports that Tehran has postponed its planned attack on the Jewish state.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s remarks, made in Riyadh on Monday during a summit of leaders of Islamic nations, underscored the evolving rapprochement between the erstwhile archenemies Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The crown prince, also known by his initials MBS, urged the international community to demand that Israel “respect the sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran and not to violate its lands.”
The two regional heavyweights restored relations last year after decades of animosity.
MBS’s anti-Israel rhetoric came days after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. For Israel, the statement from Riyadh may signal a setback to the normalization process with Saudi Arabia, a long-sought goal within the framework of the Abraham Accords, brokered by Trump during his first term in the White House, that has seen Israel establish formal ties with several Arab states in recent years.
According to a Sky News Arabia report published two days later and citing Iranian officials, Tehran has shelved a planned third direct strike on Israel, with the delay attributed to possible forthcoming diplomatic talks with Trump. Israel Hayom published a similar report the following day, citing officials in Jerusalem familiar with the matter.
Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref expressed his hope that the incoming Trump administration would put a stop to Israel’s campaigns against its terrorist proxies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The American government is the main supporter of the actions of the Zionist regime [Israel], and the world is waiting for the promise of the new government of this country to immediately stop the war against the innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon,” Aref said at Monday’s gathering.
Observers noted that Saudi Arabia’s shift could stem from both domestic and regional considerations. For the kingdom, improving relations with Iran is a strategic move to de-escalate conflicts in Yemen, where both countries have backed opposing sides. By opening diplomatic channels with Iran, Saudi Arabia also aims to reduce its dependence on Western security guarantees amid growing regional autonomy. According to Dr. Eyal Pinko, a Middle East expert who served in Israeli intelligence for more than three decades, Saudi Arabia is also under pressure from France, a major arms supplier, to maintain a moderate stance and promote regional peace.
“Saudi Arabia understands [it] cannot rely on the Americans” for arms, Pinko told The Algemeiner.
For its part, Iran may be seeking closer ties with the Gulf kingdom as a result of recent Israeli operations that have decimated the senior leadership of Hezbollah, Iran’s most influential proxy in the Arab world that has long served as a strategic partner.
“Iran is spreading its bets all around, not to be on one side or another,” Pinko said.
Hezbollah, along with Hamas in Gaza, had in the past been blacklisted as terrorist groups by Riyadh.
The New York Times last month cited a Saudi tycoon with ties to the monarchy as saying that the war in Gaza has “set back any Israeli integration into the region.”
“Saudi Arabia sees that any association with Israel has become more toxic since Gaza,” Ali Shihabi told the newspaper.
In another blow for Saudi-Israel relations, Riyadh announced it would revoke the license of the Saudi news broadcaster, MBC, after it labeled the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar a terrorist.
But according to Pinko, the chance of Saudi-Israel normalization is not entirely lost, pending a ceasefire.
“If nothing extreme happens with Iran until Jan. 20 [when Trump takes office], I believe that the Abraham Accords will come back to the table,” he said.
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Germany Opposes EU Foreign Policy Chief’s Proposal to Suspend Dialogue With Israel
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a session of the lower house of parliament Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Oct. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Thursday publicly rejected a proposal by the European Union’s foreign policy chief to suspend regular political dialogue with Israel in response to the Jewish state’s ongoing military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
“We are always in favor of keeping channels of dialogue open. Of course, this also applies to Israel,” the German Foreign Office said of top EU official Josep Borrell’s plans, according to the German news agency dpa.
The Foreign Office added that, while the political conversations under the EU-Israel Association Council provide a regular opportunity to strengthen relations and, in recent months, discuss the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza, severing that mechanism would be counterproductive.
“Breaking off dialogue, however, will not help anyone, neither the suffering people in Gaza, nor the hostages who are still being held by Hamas, nor all those in Israel who are committed to dialogue,” the statement continued.
Borrell on Wednesday proposed the suspension of dialogue in a letter to EU foreign ministers ahead of their meeting this coming Monday in Brussels, citing “serious concerns about possible breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza.” He also wrote, “Thus far, these concerns have not been sufficiently addressed by Israel.”
The regular dialogues that Borrell is seeking to break off were enshrined in a broader agreement on relations between the EU and Israel, including extensive trade ties, that was implemented in 2000.
“In light of the above considerations, I will be tabling a proposal that the EU should invoke the human rights clause to suspend the political dialogue with Israel,” Borrell wrote.
A suspension would need the approval of all 27 EU countries, an unlikely outcome. According to Reuters, multiple countries objected when a senior EU official briefed ambassadors in Brussels on the proposal on Wednesday.
While some EU countries, such as Spain and Ireland, have been fiercely critical of Israel since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, others such as the Czech Republic and Hungary have been more supportive.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, launched the ongoing conflict with its invasion of southern Israel last Oct. 7. During the onslaught, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people, wounded thousands more, and kidnapped over 250 hostages while perpetrating mass sexual violence and other atrocities.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. However, Hamas has in many cases prevented people from leaving, according to the Israeli military.
Another challenge for Israel is Hamas’s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations, direct attacks, and store weapons.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said last month that Israel has delivered over 1 million tons of aid, including 700,000 tons of food, to Gaza since it launched its military operation a year ago. He also noted that Hamas terrorists often hijack and steal aid shipments while fellow Palestinians suffer.
The Israeli government has ramped up the supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza in recent weeks under pressure from the United States, which has expressed concern about the plight of civilians in the war-torn enclave.
Meanwhile, Borrell has been one of the EU’s most outspoken critics of Israel over the past year. Just six weeks after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, he drew a moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas while speaking to the European Parliament, accusing both of having carried out “massacres” while insisting that it is possible to criticize Israeli actions “without being accused of not liking the Jews.”
Borrell’s speech followed a visit to the Middle East the prior week. While in Israel, he delivered what the Spanish daily El Pais described as the “most critical message heard so far from a representative of the European Union regarding Israel’s response to the Hamas attack of Oct. 7.”
“Not far from here is Gaza. One horror does not justify another,” Borrell said at a joint press conference alongside then-Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. “I understand your rage. But let me ask you not to let yourself be consumed by rage. I think that is what the best friends of Israel can tell you, because what makes the difference between a civilized society and a terrorist group is the respect for human life. All human lives have the same value.”
Months later, in March of this year, Borrell claimed that Israel was imposing a famine on Palestinian civilians in Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war. His comments came a few months before the United Nations Famine Review Committee (FRC), a panel of experts in international food security and nutrition, rejected the assertion that northern Gaza was experiencing famine, citing a lack of evidence. Borrell’s comments prompted outrage from Israel.
In August, Borrell pushed EU member states to impose sanctions on some Israeli ministers.
Monday’s meeting in Brussels will be the last that Borrell will chair before ending his five-year term as the EU’s foreign policy chief.
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