As the threat of a ground invasion from Israel in Rafah looms, Egypt has threatened to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if it does so. Two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat added that Egypt has said that the fighting in Rafah could lead to the closure of the territory’s main aid supply route.
Egypt’s threat to suspend the Camp David Accords, which have been a pillar of regional stability for nearly fifty years, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion that deploying troops to Rafah was essential to achieving victory in the ongoing conflict against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
With more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents seeking refuge in Rafah to escape violence in other parts of the region, they are crowded into extensive tent camps and shelters operated by the United Nations near the border. Egypt is concerned about the potential for a significant influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, many of whom may not have the opportunity to return to their homes.
The standoff between Israel and Egypt, both close allies of the United States, coincides with warnings from aid organisations that an assault on Rafah would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Approximately 80 percent of Gaza’s population has been displaced from their homes, and the United Nations reports that a quarter of the population is at risk of starvation.
Israel Egypt wars since Camp David Accords
Israel and Egypt engaged in five wars before the signing of the Camp David Accords, a significant peace treaty brokered by then-US President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s. This treaty contains several provisions governing the deployment of forces on both sides of the border.
Egypt has fortified its border with Gaza extensively, creating a 5-kilometer buffer zone and constructing concrete walls both above and below ground. Despite Israeli claims of ongoing smuggling tunnels operated by Hamas beneath the border, Egypt maintains that its forces have complete control on their side.
However, Egyptian officials express concern that a breach of the border could overwhelm the military’s ability to prevent a mass exodus of people into the Sinai Peninsula.
According to the United Nations, Rafah, typically home to fewer than 300,000 people, now accommodates an additional 1.4 million individuals who have fled conflict elsewhere, resulting in severe overcrowding.
(With AP inputs)
