Egyptian source denies Israeli plans to relocate Rafah crossing: Media

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen
5 Feb 2024 23:55
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An official Egyptian source denies Israeli media reports about negotiations between Egypt, the US, and "Israel" to replace the Rafah crossing with the "Kerem Shalom" crossing.

A Palestinians stranded in Egypt waits to cross Rafah crossing to the Gaza Strip at Rafah, Egypt, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

An official Egyptian source denied the reports circulated by Israeli media regarding a plan considered by "Israel" to relocate the Rafah crossing to the border triangle in the "Kerem Shalom" area, near the border with the besieged Gaza Strip, Al Qahera News reported.

The source also denied Israeli media reports about negotiations between Egypt, the United States, and "Israel" to replace the Rafah crossing with the "Kerem Shalom" crossing.

Elsewhere, the Egyptian official dismissed information that Israeli occupation forces targeted an Egyptian aid truck in the northern Gaza Strip, noting that the truck belongs to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).

Earlier, the Israeli Channel 13 claimed that the Israeli occupation government is considering relocating the Rafah border crossing to the "Kerem Shalom" area in order to prevent Cairo from taking part in managing the crossing and allow Israeli authorities to conduct security checks.

In a related context, unnamed Egyptian sources told the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom that Cairo has threatened to suspend or cancel its normalization agreement with "Israel" if the latter forcibly displaces a single Palestinian to Egypt's Sinai to the south of the Gaza Strip.

According to the Israeli newspaper, these threats were conveyed in a series of contacts between senior Egyptian and Israeli officials and were later communicated to the "entire political-security elite in Israel."

The first unnamed official told Israel Hayom that "if one Palestinian refugee passes (to Egyptian territory), the peace agreement (between the two governments) will be canceled."

Another source did not mention the cancelation of the agreement, but the source did say that Cairo would "suspend" the agreement under the same circumstances.