By Latheef Farook
The Rafah Border Crossing is the sole crossing point between Egypt and Palestine’s Gaza Strip. It is located on the Egypt–Palestine border. Under a 2007 agreement between Egypt and Israel, Egypt controls the crossing but imports through the Rafah crossing require Israeli approval.
If Rafah Border crossings is opened and trucks are allowed to take the much needed water, food, medicine , fuel and other essential items , the misery caused by on going US-European Israeli barbarity of starving Palestinian could be avoided.
The UN says that since the start of the war, about 100,000 people in Gaza have been killed,injured or are missing. Analysis of satellite data cited by the Associated Press suggests that about two-thirds of all structures in the north of Gaza have been destroyed, and about a quarter in the southern Khan Younis area. Across the whole territory, about 33% of buildings have been destroyed. The Israeli genocide on Gaza has 85% of the territory’s population internally displaced
Ever since 8 October 2023 ,the day after Hamas’ attacks , Israel deprived Palestinians of water, food, fuel, medicines and almost everything needed to survive. Besides indiscriminate and relentless aerial bombings Israel slaughter Palestinians, including new born children and destroy buildings, hospitals, schools ,mosques and almost all other structures and turned Gaza strip into a killing field.
Around two million Palestinians were forced to live in makeshift camps in pouring rains and shivering winter cold without food, water and medicine as Israel and its US European partners wanted to starve them to death . Egypt refused to help starving Palestinians who await death any moment by Israeli bombing.
People of all walks of life all over Egypt, seething with anger , demand the opening of Rafah Crossing and help alleviate the sufferings of Palestinians.However Egyptian dictator Abdel Fattah El Sisi, installed in power by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates at a cost of eleven billion dollar, on behalf of United States ,Europe and Israel,refused to open the Rafah Border Crossing .
Sisi adopts the very same policy adopted by late Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak who supported Israeli genocide of Palestinians in December 2008.January 2009 in the hope of finishing off Hamas.
Justifying this policy Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that his country is committed to upholding its peace treaty with Israel . This , he said,at a time when Israeli army plans to launch a ground offensive in Rafah, home to more than 1.4 million residents seeking refuge from war.
The question is what is so sacred about this agreement with Israel- which in defiance of all accepted norms,human decency and laws , indiscriminately slaughtering Palestinians and starving them.
“What’s happening in Gaza represents an unprecedented crime against humanity,” said many reports in Cairo which pointed out that “enormous military power – featuring the latest US -European weaponry – is being brought to bear against a poverty-stricken and defenseless population.”
In an article titled the war on Gaza has sharpened Egyptian popular grievances – both on Palestine and at home, columnist Reem Abou-El-Fadl stated that watching this genocide unfold on their doorstep has jolted many Egyptians into action, from boycotting western products to protest marches.
She added that Israel’s unfolding genocide in Gaza is shaking relations between states and citizens across the Middle East. In Egypt, events have pushed the political regime’s comfortably obscured cooperation with Israel into the limelight, and have jolted millions of Egyptians out of their inward focus on daily survival amid spiralling inflation and unemployment.
The question asked by Egyptians, Arabs all over Middle East,Muslims. Christians and all other right thinking people worldwide, is how could Egypt and other countries in the Middle East turn blind to the savagery unleashed by Israel without the approval of Arab dictators..
Unfortunately for the Palestinians, Israel and its US and European partners, were aware that the Arab tyrants would approve such a move because they would like to crush Hamas – a movement that takes its inspiration from Islam and Islamic Brotherhood movement in Egypt.
Islam in fact is the common enemy of not only US, Europe and Israel but also the Arab tyrants. Columnist John Wight said throughout , and to its eternal shame, the West along with Arab dictators in the region have stood by and offered nothing in the way of serious and meaningful intervention.These dictators are not worried about their people or Islam .All what they want is to ensure they remain in power and enjoy life.
Already in multiple statements, US officials have made clear that they will take no action against Israel no matter how many civilians it massacres in its planned assault on Rafah, . These statements effectively give Israel a blank check to commit unrestrained war crimes in its assault on the city.
According to latest reports Egypt has done little to confront Israel’s invasion of Gaza, despite nearly 30,000 Palestinians killed and hundreds of thousands more forced to its border. However there are “extremely strong signals that Egypt has already reached a semi-finalised agreement on receiving the Palestinians of Gaza either in part or in full and help facilitate Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.”.
“Egypt has so far succumbed to every Israeli condition.“Look at the aid, for example. Egypt has been told to not send aid directly to Gaza and not break the siege, and Egypt accepted. They sent the aid through Nitzana and al-Awja [40km south of Rafah] to be checked first by the Israelis and then the Israelis decide if aid goes in.”
These reports also point out that Israel has to sign off on the names of wounded Palestinians, as well as ordinary travellers, before their evacuation to Egypt. “The only thing that actually has been proven that Egypt has done is profiteering from the aid shipments and transports,” referring to revelations by MEE that an intelligence-linked firm charges aid groups thousands of dollars to get aid into Gaza.
This is the shameful state of affairs in Egypt- the most populous immediate neighbour of Israel, without which there cant be peace or war with Israel.