Israeli Occupation Remarks On Philadelphi Spark Egypt's Outrage, Arab Backing

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) News report by Islam Abdelfattah

CAIRO, Sept 5 (KUNA) - Recent provocative statements by Israeli occupation's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the Philadelphi Corridor have triggered Egypt's emphatic rejection and wide-scale Arab support for and solidarity with Egypt.
Netanyahu was quoted as claiming that the Israeli Occupation military must retain open-ended control over Gaza's southern border area with Egypt - known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
He also claimed that his occupying forces would control the corridor, a narrow route between Egypt and Gaza, in an attempt to prevent the alleged smuggling of weapons into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Egypt resolutely responded to such allegations by warning that any Israeli attempt to reoccupy the "Philadelphia Corridor" in the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt is a red line that the Israeli occupation would not be allowed to cross.
It underlined that such claims only aim at distracting the Israeli occupation's public opinion and blocking ongoing efforts exerted by Egypt, Qatar and the US to reach a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner swap deal.
It also accused the Israeli occupation of seeking to escalate the already volatile situation and to justify its aggressive and provocative policies that could spill over into the region.
In response, the Arab League affirmed its support for Egypt's opposition to Israel's schemes to maintain occupation of the Philadelphi Corridor.
In a statement, the Arab League's General Secretary Ahmad Abul-Gheit reacted to lies made by Israeli occupation's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the alleged smuggling of arms to Hamas via the corridor, affirming that such lies might lead to compromising Egypt's pivotal role in the region.
Many Arab countries, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Palestine, Omand, the UAE, and Bahrain have immediately voiced unwavering support for the Egyptian government and rejected the provocative statements of the Israeli occupation.
Speaking to KUNA on the issue, former Egyptian assistant foreign minister Omar Haridi spoke highly of the great Arab backing to Egypt's position on Netanyahu's recent comments on the corridor.
He added that the US was currently pondering over a final suggestion for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, including Israeli occupying forces' pullout of the Philadelphi Corridor.
The former official noted that Cairo was waiting for the suggestion to materialize and the potential Israeli occupation response before taking any escalatory steps against this Israeli recalcitrance.
Also speaking to KUNA, Amr Rabea, deputy chairman of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said Egypt wields several tools to use should the Israeli occupation's attitude remain unchanged.
Egypt, for instance, can give up its role as a mediator of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, downgrade its diplomatic representation, and suspend the peace deal with the Israeli occupation.
The Philadelphi Corridor, often referred to as Philadelphia, is a narrow strip of land, 14 kilometers long, located along the border between Egypt and southern Gaza. It is part of the buffer zone between Egypt and the Gaza Strip under the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace accord.
Israeli occupation forces pulled out of the route and handed it over to the Palestinian National Authority in 2005. In the same year, Egypt and Israeli occupation concluded the Philadelphia Accord, whereby Cairo deployed 750 border guards along the route to patrol the border on the Egyptian side as part of efforts to fight terrorism and infiltration, while the Palestinian side remained under the control of the Palestinians. (end) ism

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