After the Hamas attacks, tensions rise in Gaza

Recent attacks by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Israel have made things worse. Now that this has happened, Egypt has stepped in. Egypt is next to both Israel and Gaza. Cairo has said that it will be talking with the US and other countries to come up with a way to send humanitarian help through its border with the Gaza Strip.

Working together with the United States, Qatar, and Turkey

As a way to send emergency aid between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt is looking into the idea with the help of the US, Qatar, and Turkey. This project is going to happen during a truce that is limited in space.

“Egypt wants to open the Rafah crossing so that it can help people in need by sending food and medicine.” “However, the instability and growing conflict make things more difficult and cause more refugees to look for safety, including in Europe,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Reuters on October 11, 2023.

Trouble in the Gaza Enclave

About 2.3 million people live in Gaza, a small coastal area surrounded by Israel to the north and east and Egypt to the southwest. Since the Islamist group Hamas took power in 2007, Gaza has been under a lockdown.

The National Security Advisor for the United States, Jake Sullivan, said that the United States had talked with both Israel and Egypt about the idea of letting people from Gaza go without being hurt. This idea comes after Hamas militants killed several Israelis in strikes that led to a major Israeli offensive.

A security source from Egypt, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Egypt does not support the idea of a safe corridor for civilians to protect the “right of Palestinian citizens to defend their struggle and land.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “Consultations are still going on.”

What Egypt Thinks and Feels

Egypt has long limited the number of Gazans who can enter its land, even during the worst conflicts. Cairo often acts as a go-between for Israel and Palestine. It always stresses that both sides should settle their differences within their own lines, saying that this is the only way for Palestinians to protect their right to become a state.

The Egyptian government has warned many times this week that Israel’s attacks on Gaza could force people to leave the enclave and move to Egyptian land.

During a meeting in Cairo with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said, “Egypt has stepped up its efforts to control the situation in Gaza.”