Israeli radio claims Tel Aviv close to reaching deal with Cairo to take control of Egypt-Gaza border area

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Israel’s Army Radio claimed on Thursday that Tel Aviv is close to reaching an agreement with Cairo to take control of a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, also known as the Philadelphia Axis, with Israel pledging to give Palestinians enough time to evacuate Rafah.

Both sides have been in talks in recent weeks to resolve disagreements between the two countries, with Israel seeking control of the Philadelphia Axis and Egypt opposing this due to concerns about the current situation in Gaza, Army Radio said.

However, Cairo has not reached or is nearing an agreement with Israel to hand over a buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza, known as the Philadelphia Axis, Egyptian media reported late Thursday.

The AlQahera News, which is close to Egyptian authorities, quoted an unnamed "high-level security source" who denied the reports.

The source denied "nearing an agreement with Israel on Rafah and the Salah al-Din/Philadelphia Corridor" and ruled out "the installation of any technological devices in the corridor."

The source also rejected “any new security arrangements for the corridor.”

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

Egypt earlier said any Israeli attempt to occupy the border area between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphia Corridor, would threaten the bilateral Israeli-Egyptian relations.

However, the Army Radio claimed that Israel promised Egypt not to intervene militarily in the buffer zone until the Palestinians had ample time to evacuate Rafah to other parts of Gaza.

There are over 1.4 million people in Rafah, the majority of whom live in tents near Egypt's border, according to UN figures.

Egypt's main concern is reducing the flow of Palestinians into Egyptian territory in the event of an Israeli military action in the area, the radio claimed, adding that Israeli authorities have yet to decide whether to allow the population to relocate to northern Gaza or Khan Younis.

Under the agreement, the radio further claimed, an unnamed Gulf country will likely fund the construction of an underground wall to protect from tunnels in the area, but Egypt must approve this suggestion.

The Israeli and Egyptian sides have not issued any official statements on the report.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing at least 27,019 Palestinians and injuring 66,139. 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.