Egyptian, US and Israeli officials are expected to meet in Cairo on Sunday to discuss reopening the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip nearly a month after it was closed, according to an Egyptian TV station.
Citing a high-level source, state-linked Al-Qahera News TV reported on Saturday that Egypt insists on Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Palestinian side of the crossing.
“Egypt has confirmed to all parties its steadfast position based on not opening the Rafah crossing as long as Israel maintains control of its Palestinian side,” the source said.
The level of representation at the reported meeting was not immediately clear.
On May 7, Israel took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, in an operation that disrupted the delivery of aid through the vital facility to the densely populated coastal strip.
Since the closure of the crossing, Egypt has indicated that it will not coordinate the transport of aid through Rafah until Israeli forces withdraw.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. But the ongoing military campaign in Gaza has inflamed anti-Israeli sentiment in the Arab world’s most populous nation, putting their decades-old ties at risk.
Cairo is also concerned that an expansion of the Israeli offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, filled with refugees fleeing the fighting, could trigger a mass exodus to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Israel considers Rafah the last stronghold of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which killed hundreds of civilians in Israel last October.
