The Authority pointed out that “from Egypt’s point of view, the Rafah crossing is of great importance to the Palestinian Authority as an entrance to the Gaza Strip, and through it, the Authority will gradually be able to gain more control within the Strip.”
In this context, a meeting was held in recent days between Palestinian Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, who is close to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and the Egyptian representative present in Ramallah.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority explained that the sheikh and the Egyptian representative in Ramallah “both drew up the plan with great and strong support from Egypt.”
She noted that, according to informed sources, there is also support from the United States of America for this proposal, and that the Egyptian goal is for representatives of the Palestinian Authority to arrive in Gaza officially and clearly, without any unknown or unclear identity.
She also stated that “the Egyptian plan stipulates that the crossing be the first step towards the Palestinian Authority’s (return) to the Gaza Strip.”
In the middle of last month, the Axios news website revealed that a secret meeting was held between the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority regarding the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The website stated that the meeting held in Tel Aviv discussed reopening the crossing as part of the exchange deal with the Palestinian resistance factions, and was attended by President Joe Biden’s senior advisor for Middle East affairs, Brett McGurk. It added that “Israel confirmed during the tripartite meeting that Benjamin Netanyahu opposes any official intervention by the Palestinian Authority in the crossing.”
The Israeli army radio had previously reported that the Rafah crossing was no longer usable after the Palestinian side of it was completely destroyed.
Channel 12 also reported that the army intends to rebuild the crossing in a new location near the Kerem Shalom crossing, where the borders between Israel and Egypt meet, but two Egyptian sources confirmed that Cairo refuses to allow its forces to enter the Gaza Strip and insists on the location of the Rafah crossing.
Source: Agencies
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2024-08-12 02:52:05
