September 18, 2024 | National Review
Egypt’s Self-Made Crisis
By refusing to acknowledge Israel’s legitimate security concerns, Egypt is undermining its own interests.
September 18, 2024 | National Review
Egypt’s Self-Made Crisis
By refusing to acknowledge Israel’s legitimate security concerns, Egypt is undermining its own interests.
Excerpt
The Philadelphi Corridor remains a key source of tension in current Israel–Hamas cease-fire negotiations. Israel insists that it must retain control of the territory, a narrow strip of land that runs along the Egypt–Gaza border, to prevent Hamas from smuggling arms into Gaza from the Sinai. Cairo, however, argues that an Israeli presence in the corridor constitutes an unacceptable challenge to its leadership role in the region. But Egyptian leaders have only themselves to blame for Israel’s demand. In fact, it was Cairo that precipitated the war by allowing Hamas to smuggle matériel into Gaza for years.
Despite significant resistance from Egyptian officials, Israeli forces took control of the Philadelphi Corridor on May 7, aiming to cut off Hamas’s arms-smuggling routes in the tunnels beneath it. The move spurred outrage in Egypt. On May 10, prominent Egyptian talk-show host Amr Adeeb spoke for the government and millions of Egyptians when he publicly condemned the Israeli action. The move was “full of challenge and stupidity,” he said on his show. State-sponsored Egyptian media echoed this refrain.
Mariam Wahba is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.