Egypt pressing for Israel to fully open Rafah crossing, warns against displacing Palestinians

Egypt is pressing Israel to open the Rafah crossing in both directions, Israeli media reported on Thursday, after Tel Aviv announced it would be opening the border only for Palestinians to leave.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation's Kan Reshet Bet radio cited unnamed officials familiar with the matter as saying that Cairo had queried why Tel Aviv can fully open the Karameh (or Allenby) crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, while refusing to do the same with Rafah.

Earlier this week, Israel announced that it had agreed to open the Karameh crossing with Jordan and for the entry of humanitarian aid for Gaza, more than two months after two Israeli soldiers were killed by a Jordanian truck driver at the crossing.

Egypt has said that Israel's opening of the border for exit only is an attempt to expel Palestinians from Gaza - seen by Cairo as a national security red line, the report highlighted.

This point was also made by Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty in his meeting with Canadian Minister of State for International Development Randeep Sarai.

Speaking on ongoing discussions with Israel regarding the Rafah crossing, Abdel Aty said: "Egypt cannot allow the Rafah crossing to be a gateway for the displacement of Palestinians in any way." He added that the operation of the crossing will be "for the entry of humanitarian aid and the exit of medical cases that need to be evacuated for treatment only".

According to the Israeli radio report, Cairo is seeking US help in pressuring Tel Aviv on the matter, following in the steps of Jordan, which recruited Washington's help over the Karama crossing.

Egyptian officials are seeking US help, in the knowledge that Washington is seeking a swift progression to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, raising the possibility of a swift resolution.

Israeli forces prepare for ceasefire second phase

Israel's security establishment has accelerated its discussions over the second phase of the ceasefire following US President Donald Trump's announcement that he will soon reveal the composition of the "Peace Council" for Gaza, Israel's Channel 12 reported on Thursday.

According to the report, one of Israel's goals at the beginning of the second phase is to establish a temporary housing complex in Rafah.

An unnamed Israeli official said that until the recovery of Ran Gvili, the last of the dead Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip, there will be no move to the next stage: "We are preparing the ground for the implementation of the agreement and the transition to the second stage. The condition is to bring Ran back."

Other Israeli officials were also quoted as saying that Tel Aviv is imposing a full veto on Turkey's entry into the multinational force in Gaza.

"We have red lines for the United States. There are countries that we don't want to be in Gaza. The (U.S.) president knows that and respects our requests," the official was quoted as saying.