Egypt is now open for business after years of secretive activity in Gaza Strip.
Egypt has promised to build huge new apartment buildings after it mediates a cease-fire between Israel’s Hamas militant group and Gaza’s Israel. Over the Palestinian territory, billboards and flags praising President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi were seen.
This is a fresh look for Egyptians who have worked quietly for years to encourage Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks and reconciliation between Palestinian factions. The shift could help prevent — or at least delay — another round of violence. Egypt’s position as a Mideast peacemaker may also help to deflect efforts by the Biden Administration and some U.S. lawmakers, to hold the country responsible for human rights abuses. The 11-day Gaza war last May “allowed Egypt to once again market itself as an indispensable security partner for Israel in the region — which it is — which in turn makes it an indispensable security partner for the U.S.,” said Hafsa Halawa, an expert on Egypt at the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank.
She said that Gaza is a reminder to everyone, effectively, that Egypt is the only way to do anything.
The expanded aid, along with its control over Rafah — the only Gaza border crossing that bypasses Israel — gives Egypt leverage over Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza since driving out forces loyal to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority in 2007.
Egypt joined Israel in imposing a severe blockade on the territory. But both countries recently took steps to ease the restrictions, tacitly acknowledging the Hamas rule.
Egypt and Israel reached an informal cease-fire to end the Gaza war. They pledged $500 million to rebuild Gaza and sent work crews. Naji Sarhan (deputy director of Hamas’ Housing Ministry), said that Egypt is subsidizing three towns that will house 300,000 people. It is not clear how much of this money has been paid. The main coastal road in Gaza is being upgraded is another project that is underway. Sarhan stated that the projects would take approximately a year to complete.
He stated that he hoped there would be large projects in the near future, particularly for the towers that were damaged in the war.
Four high-rises were destroyed by Israel during the fighting. They were claimed to have housed Hamas’ military infrastructure. Hamas denies that it has released evidence supporting these claims. Rafah will receive the construction materials. Alaa al-Arraj from the Palestinian contractors’ union said that nine Palestinian companies will participate in the Egyptian project, which would generate approximately 16,000 needed jobs in the impoverished region. The Egyptian presence in Gaza is palpable. Nearly every week, Egyptian delegations visit Gaza for inspection of the work. A permanent office has been opened in a Gaza City hotel to accommodate technical representatives.
Egyptian flags and banners from Egyptian companies fly high atop bulldozers trucks and utility poles. Dozens upon dozens of Egyptian workers have arrived in Gaza City to sleep in a temporary hostel at a school. Five days a week, Egyptian trucks filled with construction materials flow into Gaza through the Rafah crossing — a visible contrast to the intermittent shipments arriving through an Israeli-controlled crossing.
Suhail Saqqa from Gaza, a contractor involved in reconstruction, stated that the steady flow Egyptian materials was crucial.
Saqqa stated that the goods are not restricted by Israeli crossings and that this makes them important.
These projects are part of a wider realignment following years in which Gaza was caught up in a tug-of war between Arab states following the 2011 Arab Spring protests.
The short-lived elected Islamist government of Egypt was close allied with Qatar, a Gulf country, and supportive to Hamas. It helped ease the blockade and mediated the end of a short Gaza war in 2012. It was overthrown by the Egyptian military the year after.
The leader of the overthrow, el-Sissi from Egypt, initially backed Hamas. He ordered the destruction a vast network smuggling routes that had been supporting Gaza’s economy. Qatar, which supports Islamist movements in the region, intervened to provide humanitarian assistance, including cash-filled suitcases that were shipped to Gaza with Israel’s permission.
The rivalry escalated with Cairo joining Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE in blocking Qatar from 2017 to a year ago. Relations have improved and Egypt and Qatar now cooperate to deliver aid to Hamas government civil servants.
Cairo has a strong tool to enforce Hamas’ truce compliance because of its growing Egyptian role. It can close Rafah whenever they want, making it nearly impossible to travel into Gaza, home to more 2 million Palestinians.
Maged Mandour (an Egyptian political analyst) said that Egypt could “suffocate Gaza in a matter of seconds” if its demands were not met.
This might be enough to stop another outbreak of hostilities in near future. However, it doesn’t address underlying conflicts that have fueled four wars between Israel & Hamas as well as numerous skirmishes over 15 years. Because Hamas refuses to recognize Israel’s existence, and because it has been the victim of many deadly attacks, most Western countries consider Hamas terrorist organization.
Israel has enforced a policy to seperate the Israeli-occupied West Bank from Gaza. These two territories flank Israel and, under an internationally supported proposal, would one day form part of a Palestinian state.
Israel’s current government has ruled out any major peace initiatives — even with Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank — but it has taken steps to improve living conditions, including issuing some 10,000 permits for Gazans to work inside Israel.
After Abbas called off the first elections for more than 15 years, relations between Hamas’ Fatah party and Abbas’ Hamas plunged to new lows last year. Repeated attempts at reconciliation — many brokered by Egypt — have failed.
But for Egypt and Israel, and for a U.S. administration focused on larger crises elsewhere — preserving the status quo in Gaza might be enough. “Egypt needs understandings or even pressure upon Hamas so that the situation doesn’t explode,” said Talal Oukal (a Gaza-based political analyst).
(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff. It is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.