It’s just being reported that Israel has informed President El-Sisi that it will take military control of Gaza’s border with Egypt, specifically the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah Crossing.
Here’s more from i24 News:
Upon a bit more research, this was reported this morning via the WSJ:
Since it pulled out of the Gaza Strip nearly two decades ago, Israel has controlled all of the Palestinian enclave’s borders except one. Now it is pushing to retake control of the southern frontier with Egypt.
Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, say Israel must have a grip on the border area, which the Israeli military calls the Philadelphi Corridor, to block Hamas from smuggling weapons into the strip. It is part of Israel’s strategy to defeat the Palestinian militant group and to prevent a repeat of its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that officials there say killed more than 1,200 people, mainly civilians.
“The Philadelphi Corridor has to be in our hands, it has to be closed,” Netanyahu said late last year. “It’s clear that any other arrangement won’t guarantee the disarmament that we want.”
Israeli officials have informed Egypt that they are planning a military operation along the Gaza side of the border, current and former Israeli officials and Egyptian officials said. The operation would likely involve removing Palestinian officials from a key crossing point and stationing Israeli forces along a stretch of land from Gaza’s southeastern corner abutting both Israel and Egypt toward the Mediterranean Sea about 8 miles to the northwest, the officials said.
For Israel, reclaiming the border region would strike a strategic blow against Hamas. It would allow Israel to block Hamas’s tunnels in the area, limit its flow of weapons, prevent its militants from escaping the Gaza Strip and remove any control the group has over the crossing point.
Egypt is concerned that an Israeli operation could infringe on the terms of a 1979 peace treaty between the two countries, which places limits on the number of troops both nations can place near the borders in the area. An Israeli military operation also risks accidentally doing damage inside Egyptian territory. Israeli officials say they are working to address those concerns by coordinating their plans for an incursion on the Gaza side with Egypt.
Israeli leaders haven’t given a final go-ahead for an operation along the border and the timing of any operation will depend on negotiations with the Egyptian government, which is trying to broker a new agreement to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a cease-fire in Gaza.
We reported this last year but those leaks may have been premature. It appears to be the real deal this time and a must-do for Israel. Hopefully they work this out quickly.