Philadelphia Corridor gives Israeli premier pretext to prolong war on Gaza

By Mustafa Haboush

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t cease to mention his desire to seize control of the border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt known as the Philadelphia Corridor.

Netanyahu claims that without controlling this narrow strip of land, the Israeli army won't be able to defeat the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

His comments come as the Philadelphia Corridor is crowded with displaced Palestinians who fled Israel’s air and ground operations across the Gaza Strip.

In recent weeks, the Israeli army has intensified its attacks on the southern areas of the Strip, including parts of Rafah city.

However, any Israeli military activity in the Philadelphia Corridor would anger Cairo while dismaying Washington, which seeks to de-escalate the intensity of the war in Gaza.

Any Israeli activity in the area is seen by many political analysts as expanding and prolonging the conflict in favor of Netanyahu, who would stay in power for a longer period as long as the war continues.

On Sunday, the US Axios website revealed differences between the US administration and Netanyahu's government over the necessity to de-escalate the conflict in Gaza and to go to a less-intensified stage of fighting, a move that Netanyahu seems not to apply as he seeks to expand the conflict for his own political calculation.

- Repeated statements

On Saturday, Netanyahu for the fourth time stressed that without controlling the Philadelphia Corridor, the Israeli army won't be able to defeat Hamas in Gaza.

On Dec. 30, he also stated that the Philadelphia Corridor must be under Israeli control, and any other outcome will not be accepted.

On Dec. 10 while speaking about future plans for Gaza, Netanyahu asserted that the Philadelphia Corridor shall be under Israeli control, and on Dec. 15, he made similar statements.

-Egypt's position

In response to Netanyahu's plans for the Philadelphia Corridor (also known as the Salah al-Din Corridor), Ahmed Abu Zeid, the spokesperson for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, on Saturday stressed that Egypt controls its borders completely.

"These matters (like the Philadelphia Corridor) are subjected to legal accords…and Egypt will respond to comments accordingly," he said, without further elaborating.

On the same day, The Wall Street Journal quoted Israeli officials who said that Tel Aviv informed Cairo about its plans to control Gaza's border with Egypt, in reference to the Philadelphia Corridor.

Israel's Channel 12 reported last week that Egypt rejected a request by Israel to assume security responsibility in the Philadelphia Corridor.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Jan. 9 said a senior Israeli army official visited Cairo to discuss security arrangements across the Philadelphia Corridor as well as a possible prisoners swap deal with Palestinians.

- Field situation

In parallel with these developments on the border area between Gaza and Egypt, the number of displaced Palestinians in Rafah city rose to 1.3 million, while its population before Oct. 7 was not more than 300,000.

As the small city can't absorb the huge number of displaced people, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have erected tents near the border areas with Egypt as they are believed to be safer from Israeli bombardments.

The Israeli army however at the end of December carried out a limited incursion into the eastern areas of Rafah city near the borders with Egypt, while Israeli warplanes continue to carry out raids near the border areas.

Clashes were also reported in the past two weeks between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli army in the eastern areas of Rafah. Yet these clashes are observed to be less intense than those in other areas across the Gaza Strip.

- Philadelphia Corridor

The Philadelphia Corridor is a 14-kilometer (8.69-mile) long corridor which is guaranteed by the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979.

It has been patrolled by Egyptian security forces after Israeli forces pulled out of Gaza in 2005.

Under the Camp David accord between Egypt and Israel in 1979, the Philadelphia Corridor was classified as Palestinian territory and classified as area "D" under the control of the Israeli army.

Under the accord, no Egyptian armed forces were allowed to be stationed on the border areas with Palestine, and the area was classified as "C" under which an Egyptian police force with light weaponry is allowed.

Israeli forces kept control of the Philadelphia Corridor until August 2005, when they withdrew from the area and allowed forces of the Palestinian Authority to take control under the supervision of European observers.

In 2007, the area came under the control of the Hamas group, pushing Israel to impose a siege on Gaza.

The area, however, is no longer empty as Palestinian urban construction sprawled to the area where Palestinian homes became closer and adjacent to the Egypt fence except for the areas around the Rafah crossing and the area close to the beach.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar