Israel talks with Egypt about controlling Gaza buffer zone: Report

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) – Amid Israeli bombing across the Gaza Strip and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's intention to expand the onslaught on Palestinians in a long narrow strip of land that serves as a buffer zone on the Egypt-Gaza border, US media reported on Tuesday that a senior Israeli security official met with the Egyptian intelligenc​​​​​​​e chief in Cairo to discuss the matter.

“Israeli Shin Bet security agency director Ronen Bar visited Cairo and met with his Egyptian counterpart, Abbas Kamel, on Monday amid tensions between Israel and Egypt over the war in Gaza and the possibility of the Israeli military expanding its operation to the Palestinian city of Rafah on the border with Egypt,” US Axios news reported, citing two Israeli sources.

The Philadelphia Corridor is a 14-kilometer (8.7-mile) narrow strip of land that serves as a buffer zone on the Egypt-Gaza border, as guaranteed by the Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty of 1979.

Egypt earlier said any Israeli attempt to occupy the Philadelphia Corridor would jeopardize bilateral Israeli-Egyptian relations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said several times that the Philadelphia Corridor area must be under Israel's control – a move if implemented, would separate Gaza and Egypt.

In addition to discussing the situation along the Philadelphia Corridor, the media outlet said the two spy chiefs discussed "how Egypt and Israel can work together to prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza that would enable Hamas to rearm."

"They also discussed potential plans for after the war," according to the report.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 26,637 Palestinians and injuring 65,387. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar