RSS
Israel Must Control the Philadelphi Corridor: Egypt Won’t
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
The city of Rafah in Gaza is only half of the city of Rafah. Therein lies the story of Egypt and terror tunnels — why Israel needs to retain a presence on the Egypt/Gaza border and the Philadelphi corridor, and why the US should support Israel and Egypt in securing the border together.
A skinny, L-shaped strip of land along the Mediterranean was supposed to be part of an Arab country created alongside Israel in 1948. But that state never came to fruition, because the Palestinian Arabs and five Arab countries decided to launch a war of extermination against Israel. They lost, and only the State of Israel was born.
By the 1949 Armistice, that L-shape had become a rectangle along the Mediterranean, occupied by Egypt, and used as a duty-free port for the Egyptian military. It was a wreck.
In 1967, when the Arab countries again tried to destroy Israel and lost, the Jewish State took control of the Gaza Strip along with the entire Sinai Desert.
Between 1968 and 1985, infant mortality was reduced from 90 per 1,000 live births to 35. Life expectancy went from 53.4 years to 66.4 years. Gaza went from fewer than 800 teachers (thanks, UNRWA) to more than 20,000. Similar increases took place in water availability, farm production, industry, telecommunications, and school construction and attendance. The population increased accordingly, from about 475,000 in 1968 to more than 525,000 in 1985.
The trends were precisely the same in Judea and Samaria, only with a larger size sample. The trajectory was up; straight up.
Until it wasn’t.
In the negotiations for the Camp David Accords, Egypt insisted that Israel keep the Gaza Strip, and in 1982, when Israel left Sinai, a Gaza-Sinai border was reestablished. The city of Rafah had grown to straddle the line, so Israel suggested moving the border to either side of the city — Egypt refused, and Rafah was divided. But it wasn’t really. Smuggling tunnels already connected the two sides.
With the Oslo Accords, a Palestinian Authority (PA) force was put on the border alongside Israel. When Israel pulled out of Gaza entirely in 2005, a new Egypt-Israel agreement, the Philadelphi Accord, was based on the principles of the 1979 peace treaty. Border control was turned over to Egypt, while the supply of arms to the PA was subject to Israeli consent.
The agreement specified that 750 Egyptian guards would be deployed along the length of the border, and Egypt and Israel pledged to work together to stem terrorism, arms smuggling, and other illegal cross-border activities. A separate agreement between Israel and the PA was signed. The European Union Border Assistance Mission at the Rafah Crossing Point (EU BAM Rafah) was created, and the European Union Police Mission (EUPOL COPPS) signed on in 2005 as well.
In 2007, all of those agreements took a dive, making reliance on the written word tenuous, at best.
Hamas took control of Gaza in a brief and bloody civil war. The late-and-mostly-unlamented Ismail Haniyeh proposed a joint Hamas, Egypt, European border group, but the Europeans left and Egypt closed the border — except for the smuggling part, which was part civilian smuggling and part Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood-financed-by-Iran smuggling.
A fascinating report entitled Look for another homeland: Forced evictions in Egypt’s Rafah, and housed at the Library of Congress, tells the story. Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2013, partly as a result of US pressure, leaving a security vacuum. Either that year or in 2014, Egypt began demolishing homes and evicting the Rafah population on the Egyptian side.
According to the book:
Egypt justified the evictions as a way to defeat the insurgents by shutting down smuggling tunnels from Gaza, through which, they alleged, the insurgents received weapons and fighters.
The Egyptian military forcibly evicted about 3,200 families, destroying as many buildings in the process, as well as hundreds of hectares of farmland. Families told Human Rights Watch the army warned them of the eviction only 48 hours or less in advance. The government’s compensation has been inadequate, and the authorities gave evicted families no effective way to challenge their eviction or their compensation. The government provided no temporary housing. Since then, the government has provided little proof that the tunnels support the insurgency and has not explained why it could not have destroyed the tunnels using less destructive means. Human Rights Watch found that Egypt’s actions violated international human rights law (IHRL) that protect civilians against forced evictions. [emphasis added]
In the latter part of that decade, Israel worked with Egypt to defeat a combination of Bedouin tribes and ISIS in northern Sinai, with some intelligence assistance by the US, but a very low profile by the US-led Multinational Force in the Sinai. In January 2023, Egypt declared an end to the insurgency — although that isn’t really clear.
Now, Israel is back in Gaza and if the IDF finishes its mission and controls the Philadelphi Corridor, Hamas will not be able to regroup, re-arm, or reconstitute itself.
Egypt clearly sees the threat to its stability and future. It seems to have trouble accepting that Israel is part of the solution. There is a role here for the United States — if it would stop “negotiating” with Hamas, the enemy of its friends, and bring Israel and Egypt together to do the job both need to have done.
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of The Jewish Policy Center and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly.
The post Israel Must Control the Philadelphi Corridor: Egypt Won’t first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.