Egypt shut down its main border crossing point with the Gaza Strip on August 23, 2021, amid tensions with the territory’s militant Hamas rulers.

It was the first time that the Rafah crossing (crossing point between Egypt and Gaza strip) was closed during a workday since early 2021. Egypt’s Government had kept the crossing opened even during the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in May 2021.

As per the Egyptian officials, the closure was connected to Egypt’s efforts to broker a long-term cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. It has not been immediately clear that how long the closure will last.

Why Egypt has decided to close crossing with Gaza?

One of the Egyptian Officials informed that the decision of closing the crossing point with the Gaza strip meant to pressure Hamas because of the differences between the Hamas and Cairo over lack of progress in both the Egyptian-led indirect talks with Israel and also the efforts to reconcile Palestinian factions.

The closure was also announced for security reasons after an escalation on August 21 between Israel and Hamas, where Israeli aircraft had struck sites in Gaza after gunfire across Gaza’s border with Israeli earlier in the day.

The closure of Rafah Crossing was announced hours after the news agency of Egypt reported that the crossing point was opened on August 22 after its weekly closing down for the Muslim weekend, Friday and Saturday.

Hamas notified of closure of Rafah crossing:

A spokesperson for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, Iyad al-Bozum said that Hamas (the Palestinian faction that controls Gaza) has been notified of the closure of Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza strip. He added that they have been in contact with the Egyptian authorities to reopen Rafah.

He further said that the closure of the Rafah crossing exacerbates the humanitarian crisis inside the Gaza strip and that Hamas hopes that the crossing will return to work as soon as possible.

Violence erupted during protests organized by Hamas:

On August 21 violence had erupted during a protest organized by Hamas to draw attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory.

Scores of Palestinians had approached the border fence with Israel, with one of them shooting and wounding the Israeli soldier. Reportedly, at least, 24 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire, two critically.

What is Rafah Crossing?

Rafah is the sole crossing between Egypt and Gaza, where an Israel-led blockade has placed several restrictions on the movement of people and goods for years.

In February 2021, Egypt had decided to reopen the crossing indefinitely, in what was described as an effort to encourage the negotiations between Palestinian factions at the time in Cairo (Egypt’s capital).

During the war in May between Israel and Hamas group, Egypt had allowed the aid and construction convoys into Gaza in order to help rebuild the houses and infrastructure that was destroyed during the fighting.

What is Gaza Strip?

Gaza strip or Gaza is a self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Gaza Strip borders Egypt on the Southwest for 11 km and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km border. Gaza and the West Bank have been claimed by the Sovereign State of Palestine.

The territories of the West Bank and Gaza have been separated from each other by Israeli territory. Both are under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, however the strip, since the Battle of Gaza in 2007, has been governed by Hamas, a Palestinian fundamentalist militant Islamic Organisation.

What is Egypt’s role between Israel and Hamas?

Egypt has been a key mediator between Israel and the Hamas militant group of the Gaza strip over the years. The Intelligence Chief of Egypt, Abbas Kamel also paid a rare visit to Israel last week in order to discuss the ceasefire deal with the newly appointed Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett. During his visit, he also invited Bennett to Egypt.

Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join Us