Israel’s takeover of Rafah border: Crossing staff evacuated prior, aid stopped, Egypt’s media under strict coverage guidelines, renewed displacement

Following heavy aerial fire on east Rafah and hours-long clashes with resistance factions, the Israeli military took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing along the Egypt-Gaza border on Tuesday morning.

It stationed tanks in the area and raised its blue and white flag in place of the Palestinian red, white, green and black.

Some residents and displaced people sheltering in Rafah hurried to leave their homes on Tuesday for areas further north in the strip, fearing that the clashes would spread.

The move marks Israel’s first ground operation in Rafah, currently the most populated area in Gaza with over 1.5 million displaced Palestinians thought to be sheltering there after seven months of Israel’s war on the strip.

Israel’s presence at the crossing also represents the first time in nine years that its troops have entered the Philadelphi Corridor, an area subject to security arrangements between Egypt and the Occupation under a 2005 protocol that followed the withdrawal of Israel from the area at the time.

Israel’s invasion of Rafah comes after Egypt, the United States and other countries have warned for months against the escalation, citing the inevitable humanitarian toll of clashes in the crowded area of the strip and the potential for more widespread displacement of Palestinians outside Gaza.

Yet now that Israel has advanced to Rafah, the response has been muted, even with both of the key border crossings into the besieged strip closed to essential aid deliveries for residents of the coastal enclave already living in famine conditions.

The United States said on Tuesday night — over 12 hours after the border’s seizure — that Israel had informed it of its plan beforehand and that the operation was of limited scope and duration and not a large-scale incursion, according to Reuters.

Egypt has not officially stated that it was informed beforehand and security officials and analysts who spoke to Mada Masr on Tuesday did not confirm whether the country coordinated with Israel prior. Yet authorities on both sides of the border took steps to clear the area before the operation, and, on Monday night, instructions were issued to media outlets on how to cover the developments at the border.

Sources also offered differing standpoints on the degree to which Israel’s invasion and capture of the crossing constitutes a breach of the existing security agreement.

Meanwhile, a public statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday morning condemned the Israeli military’s “operation in Palestinian Rafah and the subsequent Israeli control over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing,” calling for Israeli restraint and international intervention to avert the crisis and support a diplomatic resolution.

As justification for its ongoing escalation in Rafah, Israel’s military has cited Hamas’ Sunday mortar shell attack on the Karam Abu Salem crossing. The attack killed four soldiers and injured several others.

Heavy airstrikes took place on Sunday night and Monday morning, and Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets on Monday ordering that around 100,000 residents immediately evacuate from southeast Rafah to the west to make way for a “limited scope” operation.

Despite Hamas announcing last night its acceptance of the ceasefire proposal to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators, Israeli military vehicles crossed the border barrier south of Rafah, near the Karam Abu Salem crossing, on Monday under the cover of intense aerial bombardment.

The airstrikes killed 23 Palestinians from four families and injured dozens in different parts of the city, according to Marwan al-Homs, the director of the Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, a facility in the eastern Rafah neighborhoods that were evacuated on Monday under orders from the Occupation military.

Israeli troops advanced close to the Rafah crossing by midnight. Intense clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters had ensued before the Israeli vehicles stormed the crossing on Tuesday morning, according to Israeli media outlets.

The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, said it clashed with the Occupation forces penetrating east at the Rafah crossing with mortar shells and also bombed the military forces at Karam Abu Salem with a short-range Rajoum missile system. The Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad’s military wing, announced clashes with the forces penetrating al-Shoka neighborhood, in eastern Rafah, with machine guns and RPG shells.

Shortly after the military operation began in Rafah, the Palestinian General Administration of Crossings and Borders evacuated its personnel from the Rafah crossing, according to its spokesperson, Wael Abu Omar. Abu Omar told Mada Masr that the evacuation was "standard procedure."

“We left the crossing yesterday after work ended as usual. We were present until late and facilitated the travel of approximately 1,200 citizens,” Hesham Edwan, the director of the Palestinian side of the crossing, told Mada Masr on Tuesday.

The withdrawal was sudden, however, according to a Gaza-based journalist who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. The journalist also said that Hamas police personnel withdrew from outside aid supply warehouses within the crossing at the same time, after which some residents managed to access them and obtain aid.

The Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV also cited a Hamas security official on Tuesday night as saying that the Egyptian side had informed the Palestinian crossings authority that the Occupation military intended to occupy the Rafah crossing, and that "enemy vehicles were conducting a security operation in its vicinity in search for alleged resistance units.”

Two weeks ago, the Occupation’s media outlets reported that Israeli security officials had visited Egypt in preparation for the Rafah operation, although no details have since been disclosed regarding the outcomes of the visit.

Sources who spoke to Mada Masr on Tuesday differed as to whether or not Egypt was informed in advance, particularly given that Israel now controls part of the Philadelphi Corridor, the narrow passage along the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip extending from the Karam Abu Salem crossing in the south to the Mediterranean Sea in the north.

The corridor is subject to security arrangements under the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty and the Philadelphi Protocol, which was added to the peace treaty when Israel withdrew troops from the strip in 2005. The protocol stipulates that in order to keep the earlier peace treaty intact, the Philadelphi Corridor area should remain demilitarized. The Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip is therefore usually the only area in which the Occupation military has no presence or control, unlike the rest of the strip’s borders.

Israel’s invasion of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing represents its first presence in the Philadelphi Corridor in 19 years.

Egyptian sources previously told Mada Masr that the entry of Israeli forces into the corridor would represent a breach of the 2005 protocol, posing a threat to Egyptian national security and the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

Egypt has also previously warned Israel, on multiple occasions, that any move to occupy the Philadelphi Corridor would threaten Egyptian-Israeli relations, stressing that the occupation of the corridor is a red line that it will not allow Israel to cross.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry’s statement on Tuesday did not mention the treaty. A day prior, however, House Defense and National Security Committee Chairman Major General Ahmed al-Awadi said that “Israel's advance near the Philadelphi Corridor poses a significant risk and an indirect threat to Egypt, even if it does not extend into Egyptian territories,” noting that the signed peace treaty prohibits Israel from operating within the border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt without Egypt's consent, especially in the Salah Eddin (Philadelphi) Corridor. Awadi stressed that "Egypt will not, under any circumstances, permit the Israeli military to enter unauthorized areas as stipulated in the terms of the peace treaty."

Mada Masr tried to contact Awadi by phone on Tuesday to inquire as to whether coordination had taken place between Egypt and Israel prior to Israel's incursion into the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing and its entry into the Philadelphi Corridor, but received no response as of the time of writing.

His fellow Defense and National Security Committee member, MP Freddy al-Bayadi, told Mada Masr that Awadi's statements reflect his personal views and that the committee has not yet conducted any discussion related to the war in Gaza or the ground operation in Rafah. Bayadi said, however, that, in his own opinion, Israeli-Egyptian coordination regarding the Rafah incursion is impossible.

Meanwhile, on the Egyptian side of the crossing, an administrative source, who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity, said that security forces evacuated aid trucks from the road opposite to the crossing on Monday morning, relocating them to a nearby logistical area.

Hala company, currently the sole entity cooperating with authorities to “coordinate” travel for Palestinians’ leaving the strip, did not publish a list of travelers’ names yesterday, a diversion from its normal procedure of posting a daily passengers list at around 10 pm.

Hala company evacuated all its employees from the crossing on Tuesday morning, coinciding with the suspension of travel operations, the administrative source from the crossing said.

The state-aligned Al-Qahera News channel aired footage late on Tuesday night showing projectiles near the crossing and sounds of gunfire exchange.

Egyptian intelligence-owned United Media Services (UMS) media conglomerate, meanwhile, issued 12 directives to all its channels and media platforms on Tuesday evening outlining media coverage procedures for the military operation in Rafah, along with cautionary notes. 

Mada Masr reviewed a copy of the guidelines, which included a ban on using the word "Rafah" without specifying it as "Palestinian" and emphasized that outlets should say that "evacuating the city of Rafah of its residents could lead to serious consequences.” The directives also said that outlets should highlight the ongoing functionality of the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, stressing that the crossing is operating normally with continued entry of individuals and aid. The plan also instructed “a strict and swift media response, debunking any rumors that harm national security.”

The UMS coverage plan emphasized that both Hamas and Israel should be held accountable for what has happened and what may transpire. The instructions also said that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's warnings against expanding the conflict should be underscored, as should events in Lebanon (Hezbollah), Yemen (Houthis), Iraq and Syria. Additionally, the plan instructed media outlets to focus on Israeli reactions rejecting the Rafah operation, while shedding light on the demonstrations by the Israeli prisoners' families.

By Tuesday morning, Occupation forces had released video footage showing their military vehicles inside the crossing, announcing that they had begun a “precise” military operation to “dismantle Hamas infrastructure within specific areas of eastern Rafah.” The Occupation military also said it had taken control of the Salah Eddin Street, which is used by aid trucks entering Gaza through the crossing, and claimed it had killed about 20 militants and that it had discovered three resistance tunnels. Footage showed Occupation tanks moving around the crossing, hoisting an Israeli flag.

The Israeli military said in its Tuesday statement that it had established control over the Palestinian side of the crossing after receiving intelligence indicating that it was being used for "terrorist purposes."

The administrative source from the Rafah side of the crossing told Mada Masr that remaining crossing staff and Red Crescent volunteers are all currently confined to a room at the border facility, following security directives prohibiting them from leaving. They reported hearing gunfire, according to the source, who said that shrapnel had reached the Egyptian side of the crossing.

Two journalists in North Sinai attempted to approach the Egyptian side of the crossing on Tuesday morning, but were informed of military orders prohibiting civilian movement on roads surrounding the crossing at the Masoura military checkpoint. One of them told Mada Masr that all Arab and Egyptian news crews in Arish were prevented from leaving the city and heading to the Rafah crossing for the same reasons.

Edwan told Mada Masr that staff on the Palestinian side of the crossing learned of the Occupation forces’ presence at the Rafah land crossing on Tuesday morning, adding that the crossing is currently completely shut down and devoid of staff due to the presence of Occupation tanks inside its corridors.

“Of course, in this case, it is impossible for anyone to go, otherwise they will be killed,” Edwan said. “The occupation has now effectively closed the crossings, be it the Karam Abu Salem crossing for the entry of aid or the Rafah land crossing for the movement of citizens. The area is too dangerous for us to go and know what is happening there in detail,” he added.

The effects of the Occupation’s aid obstruction from all crossings are already showing, with prices increasing and basic commodities already in shortage, noted two people currently living in Palestinian Rafah.

“Currently, we can't find any type of meat in the markets. And prices have tripled in a matter of minutes. Everything became so expensive and scarce. I'm just afraid that we're heading toward a famine, a famine in the whole Gaza Strip, not just in Rafah,” said Jenin, who was displaced from eastern Rafah on Monday and is now staying with relatives in central Rafah. Hatem, who is displaced in western Rafah, also said that prices have spiked since Monday.

Commenting on the closure of the crossings at Rafah and Karam Abu Salem, which closed on Sunday after the Hamas shelling, UN chief António Guterres said on Tuesday that “the closure of both the Rafah and [Karam Abu Salem] crossings is especially damaging to an already dire humanitarian situation. They must be re-opened immediately.  Just to give an example, we risk running out of fuel this evening.” The Palestinian Health Ministry also noted on Tuesday that trucks with medical equipment, drugs and fuel are now unable to enter the strip.

Meanwhile, residents of Rafah’s eastern neighborhoods continued to evacuate toward Khan Younis and Mawasi on Tuesday. “Almost everyone I know in eastern Rafah has evacuated, either to another part of Rafah or to other cities in the strip,” Jenin told Mada Masr. Jenin and Hatem both added that some families in central and western Rafah also evacuated on Tuesday out of fear of a city-wide invasion.

What lies ahead for the 1.5 million Palestinians who were sheltering in Rafah after being displaced from elsewhere in the strip due to Israel’s seven-month-long war is unclear. 

The Hamas security official who spoke to Al-Aqsa TV on Monday said that Israel’s troops “are expected to withdraw from the crossing’s perimeter by [Tuesday] morning."

Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies Associate Expert Saeed Okasha told Mada Masr that Israel's entry into the Philadelphi Corridor itself does not constitute a breach of the Camp David Accords, but did say that the critical aspect lies in what will happen during the coming hours, and possibly days, in the corridor.

There is currently no evidence that Israel has violated agreements with Egypt regarding military presence and equipment in the corridor, he continued. However, if Israel was to target Egypt’s border or if there was a refugee influx, Egypt would then have to officially respond to the violation of its borders and the breach of the agreement.

Egypt’s authorities will now have to consider whether they will issue an official statement clarifying their stance on the Israeli military’s presence in the corridor and whether it aligns with the security agreements between the two parties, said Ayman al-Raqab, a political science professor at Al-Quds University. Raqab added that another primary task for Egypt will now be to persuade Israel to halt the military operation and accept the negotiated agreement, as it has convinced Hamas.

Raqab emphasized that all political parties support the decision to end the war, except for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, because he realizes that the moment the war ends, his political career will also end.