All eyes are on Egypt, the illustrious victim of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Egypt called into question many times because it has declared since 8 October that it has no intention of hosting the Palestinians within its borders and also because it is part of the mediating countries for the release of the Israeli hostages between Israel and Hamas together with Qatar, Russia, United States, Turkey.
These days there is a lot of talk about the Israeli attack on Rafah, in reality the air attacks have already begun. But there are those who say that a land attack is imminent. The objective is the control of the “Philadelphia corridor” or “Philadelphia line”.
According to Israel Today, Egypt has threatened to terminate the peace treaty with Israel and end all relations if Gazans are sent to Sinai. “If even one person crosses the Sinai, the peace treaty will end,” the Egyptians said bluntly.
The Israeli army says the operation will be carried out at the Philadelphia line, at the Rafah checkpoint, within two months, and Egypt opposes it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops to prepare. If Egypt is serious, it should start supplying Gaza before such a situation arises and respond directly militarily in the event of a possible operation.
As previously reported, the Egyptians should give this response not with the support of the United States and Israel, but with the support of the Eastern Bloc, in accordance with their interests to place part of Gaza under Egyptian control and thus create a conflict between local groups and Egypt in the long term.
The Egyptian people will survive another war, but they have a harder time surviving what Israel will do, which is trying to undermine Egypt’s alliances, has cut off the Nile waters from Ethiopia and is still looking at the Sinai and Suez .
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry is concerned about the possibility of mass attempts by Gazans to flee across the border when Israel expands its operations in Rafah, as Netanyahu has promised.
In recent weeks, Egypt has strengthened its border defenses, erecting more barbed wire and walls. More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are currently sheltering in the Rafah area.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country’s military is at a “low start”, with an order already given to launch a ground operation in the refugee-filled city of Rafah. In preparation for the invasion, airstrikes carried out dozens of strikes against Hamas infrastructure. At the same time, the command admitted that it had no specific plans to minimize civilian deaths in Rafah.
The United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wensland, confirmed that any possible Zionist attack on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip would constitute a “real disaster”.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
