Palestinian Authority rejects Israeli bid to relocate Rafah border crossing

By Qais Abo Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday that Palestine rejects any Israeli attempt to transfer or replace the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

"Israel is trying to relocate the crossing to another location. We affirm this is a pure Egyptian-Palestinian matter," Shtayyeh said in a government session.

The Israeli Channel 13 reported on Saturday that the Israeli government is considering relocating the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to the Kerem Shalom area.

Relocating the crossing to the border triangle between Israel, Gaza, and Egypt aims to prevent Cairo from intervening in the management of it, the channel added.

Rafah border crossing is the sole crossing point between Egypt and Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on Gaza following an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing at least 27,365 Palestinians and injuring 66,630 others, while 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 Mohammad Sio