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Scoop: Israel says it won't let Palestinian Authority have Rafah crossing role headshot
Axios ^ | 6-7-24 | Barak Ravid

Posted on 06/07/2024 11:33:18 AM PDT by SJackson


U.S., Egyptian and Israeli officials failed to make progress in a meeting last Sunday about reopening the Rafah crossing after the Israeli side refused to allow any role for the Palestinian Authority in operating the strategic site, according to four U.S. and Israeli officials.

Why it matters: Reopening the crossing on the border of Egypt and Gaza, preventing Hamas from smuggling weapons into the Strip from Egypt and maintaining a tenuous peace between Israel and Egypt are top priorities for the Biden administration.

U.S. officials say the reopening of the Rafah crossing could be a first step in a wider post-war strategy for the stabilization and reconstruction of Gaza. Driving the news: The meeting in Cairo was a result of a phone call two weeks ago between President Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

During the call, Sisi agreed to Biden's request to resume the flow of aid trucks into Gaza through Israel, after deliveries were halted two weeks earlier in protest of Israel's takeover of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.

Biden promised the Egyptian president that if the flow of aid was resumed, the U.S. would work to reopen the Rafah crossing as soon as possible, a U.S. official said.

The big picture: The Biden administration has repeatedly said it sees Gaza as part of a future Palestinian state and wants the Palestinian Authority to have a role in governing it after the war.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed back on the Palestinian Authority's involvement in Gaza in almost every meeting with U.S. officials in recent months.

Early in the war, he said he was against any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, a position that has become a political talking point that he will have a hard time walking back.

During a meeting of Israel's security cabinet ahead of the talks in Egypt, Netanyahu said he doesn't agree to any role for the Palestinian Authority at the Rafah crossing, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting.

One of the sources said Netanyahu's remark contradicted a policy approved in the war cabinet a few days earlier that said Israel would agree to the Rafah crossing being operated by any government entity other than Hamas. Behind the scenes: The U.S. delegation for the meeting in Cairo was headed by Terry Wolff, the senior director for the Middle East at the White House National Security Council.

The Israeli government coordinator for the West Bank and Gaza, Gen. Ghassan Alian, and officials from the Shin Bet security agency led the Israeli delegation. Egypt was represented by officials from the country's intelligence service and military.

Friction point: During the meeting, the U.S. and Egypt raised the possibility of reopening the crossing with Palestinians from Gaza who are not affiliated with Hamas and would be representatives of the Palestinian Authority, the U.S. and Israeli officials said.

The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah has prepared a list of about 300 hundred Palestinians from Gaza who were vetted and ready to work at the crossing, U.S. officials said. Israel said at the meeting that it is ready to vet the Palestinians who are on the list and to allow those who aren't affiliated with Hamas to operate the crossing together with the EU force of monitors that was stationed at the crossing before Hamas began governing Gaza in 2007, according to two Israeli officials.

Israel said it doesn't have a problem with Palestinians who are affiliated with Fatah — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' party and Hamas' political rival — operating the crossing, but they wouldn't agree to them doing it as official representatives of the Palestinian Authority, the officials said.

Israel proposed an interim solution could be for the Palestinians on the list to operate the crossing as "a local civilian committee" instead, one Israeli official said.

Egypt and the Palestinian Authority reject the idea. The Egyptians proposed to hold a follow-up meeting with the director of intelligence for the Palestinian Authority, Maj. Gen. Majed al-Faraj, to discuss the issue.

But the Israelis refused and said the government's directive is not to hold any discussions about Gaza with the Palestinian Authority. They added they would need approval from Israel's political leaders to hold such a meeting.

Between the lines: A senior Israeli official said Israel and the U.S. also presented information about the number of tunnels they say are between Egypt and Gaza and asked the Egyptians to destroy them in order to prevent weapons being smuggled to Hamas.

The Egyptians "played down" the issue, the official said. Egyptian officials earlier said there were no such tunnels and that Israel was using the claims to justify its attack on Rafah.

What they're saying: "The discussions about the Rafah crossing were very tough and ended with no agreement," an Israeli official said.

One U.S. official said "there was a lot of frustration and disappointment on both sides" during the Cairo meeting.

But another U.S. official said there was some progress in the meeting in Cairo, including an agreement to increase the amount of humanitarian aid delivered from Egypt to Gaza through Israel.

Both U.S. officials said there was no expectation to reach a solution after one meeting and the conversations with Egypt and Israel about the crossing are still ongoing. They said an agreement on the reopening of the crossing could still happen in the near future.

Egyptian security sources told Reuters the meeting was positive despite there being no agreement.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Government; Israel; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: hamas; israel; palestine; rafah
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1 posted on 06/07/2024 11:33:18 AM PDT by SJackson
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

U.S. officials say the reopening of the Rafah crossing could be a first step in a wider post-war strategy for the stabilization and reconstruction of Gaza.

Joe heard the tunnels need some overdue maintenance.

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2 posted on 06/07/2024 11:35:17 AM PDT by SJackson (There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them Churchill)
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To: SJackson

“Al-Arabi al-Jadid reported that the IDF is now in total control of the entire Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Egyptian border, from Kerem Shalom to the sea shore.”


3 posted on 06/07/2024 11:50:30 AM PDT by jjotto ( Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.)
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To: SJackson

Why are we so preoccupied with aid for Gaza and for its rebuild?
Let Hamas found the food for the people and to rebuild the place themselves! They somehow find the money for guns and rockets!
Why should US taxpayers spend a penny helping terrorists?


4 posted on 06/07/2024 12:05:18 PM PDT by AZJeep
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To: AZJeep

I think Joe has promised them $8 billion, 3 or 4 times their GDP. The Euros will send more. They have a lot of tunnels to rebuild.


5 posted on 06/07/2024 12:16:11 PM PDT by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do)
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To: SJackson

According to aquaintences that live there, the day that Netanyahu agrees to let Hamas stay in power and the day he suggests agreeing to a Two State Solution, will be his last day in office.


6 posted on 06/07/2024 12:22:24 PM PDT by Judge Bean
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To: AZJeep

because of the knowledge of US, Egypt, and Qatar complicity in the smuggling.


7 posted on 06/07/2024 12:23:50 PM PDT by Judge Bean
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To: AZJeep

because of the knowledge of US, Egypt, and Qatar complicity in the smuggling being revealed.


8 posted on 06/07/2024 12:24:13 PM PDT by Judge Bean
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To: SJackson
Seems like the IDF will split Gaza into north and south parts, there's a road in the middle of it controlled by the IDF. Rafah crossing will be controlled by the IDF. The civilian authority will be PLO but that can only happen after Hamas is destroyed.

Right now, Hamas is still fighting and hiding in the tunnels.

9 posted on 06/07/2024 12:26:19 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: SJackson

No- the Rafah crossing Hamas is desperate to re-open. Because the 80 tunnels between Egypt(Qatar) and Israel are being destroyed forever. Nothing coming in from that way.. sooo... Rafah (for “humanitarian” needs, like the floating dock JOKE from joebama, that floated away and never was an option. Hamas shooting at the trucks they couldn’t loot).


10 posted on 06/07/2024 12:27:08 PM PDT by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis )
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To: Judge Bean

Basically, though it will take a few months for an election.


11 posted on 06/07/2024 12:29:08 PM PDT by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Not the PLO, either. The PLO? nuts. Why not Hezbollah, soon to be eliminated as well. There is no reason for any of this negotiation, other than stretching time for plastering the Iranian client terrorists to non-existence.


12 posted on 06/07/2024 12:30:06 PM PDT by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis )
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To: MinorityRepublican

I don’t think Israel will allow the PA to run anything. The EU ran the crossing before Hamas took over.


13 posted on 06/07/2024 12:31:00 PM PDT by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do)
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To: John S Mosby

The PLO under Mahmoud Abbas is probably the best you can get. He’s corrupt. And old. He’s not a zealot. He’s a pragmatist. But he’s not going to live forever.


14 posted on 06/07/2024 12:32:49 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: SJackson
I don’t think Israel will allow the PA to run anything.

Israel is not going to want to occupy Gaza. So they're going to look for a puppet who's willing to collaborate with Israel.

15 posted on 06/07/2024 12:34:06 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: John S Mosby
There is no reason for any of this negotiation, other than stretching time for plastering the Iranian client terrorists to non-existence.

Michigan and Minnesota.

16 posted on 06/07/2024 12:35:18 PM PDT by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do)
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To: MinorityRepublican

However— none of these “orgs” need be in place, because of course none of them are worked the same way by Iran. So- no— none, not PLO, not PA, not Hamas, and not Hezbollah or any and all descended organizations from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Nothing, because leaving anything in place continues the bloodshed, and the perpetual hegemony of Iran.


17 posted on 06/07/2024 12:37:21 PM PDT by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: SJackson

Yes— the “other” 2 State solution for joeypoopypants. If they are so foolish as to accept his actual bullcrap. It should not be provided, for it is a losing proposition- all demographics aside. Dearbornistan and etc.


18 posted on 06/07/2024 12:39:46 PM PDT by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: MinorityRepublican
The PLO under Mahmoud Abbas is probably the best you can get. He’s corrupt. And old. He’s not a zealot. He’s a pragmatist. But he’s not going to live forever.

Hamas is quite popular in the Palestinian Authority. As are the PFLP and PIJ. Presuming elections are held one day, the terror groups will win. No elections, as you say he's not going to live forever and it's unlikely he'll have a peace minded successor. Personally I'd forget about him and try to establish a moderate government in Gaza, no small task. Let Gaza be it's own state and see how it goes.

19 posted on 06/07/2024 12:41:35 PM PDT by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do)
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To: SJackson

Send the Satanic Fakestinians home to Egypt/Arabia/Krapistan and the terrorist murder gangster raids are finished, kaput.


20 posted on 06/07/2024 12:43:47 PM PDT by faithhopecharity (“Politicians are not born. They're excreted.” Marcus Tillius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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