Israel and Egypt face crisis in relations over Israeli plan to control border

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Relations between Israel and Egypt are at risk of plunging into crisis if Israel pushes on towards its stated goal of controlling the border between Gaza and Egypt, analysts have warned.

Tensions between the two neighbours, who signed a landmark peace treaty in 1979 after fighting several wars, had already soured since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war on Egypt’s doorstep in October.

Israel has ignored consistent calls for a ceasefire by Egypt and other Arab countries, continuing with its devastating military offensive despite a mounting civilian death toll.

But recent assertions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel must control Gaza’s border with Egypt threaten to further strain relations, putting pressure on the milestone peace treaty signed 44 years ago between the two former foes.

“Things have been very tense, but there are limits to how far these tensions can go on a strategic level,” said Michael Hanna, a senior Middle East expert with International Crisis Group.

“The treaty will stay but the quality of relations will suffer,” he told The National. “Deploying Israeli troops on the Gaza side of the border represents a big shift in the status quo and will have long-term repercussions. It also adds one more complicating factor to efforts to win self-determination for the Palestinians.”

Mr Netanyahu said on Saturday that a decision had yet to be made about a potential military takeover of the “Philadelphia Corridor”, the stretch of land that runs alongside the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt.

He said that sealing off the zone to isolate Hamas was one of Israel’s aims for the war in Gaza, and that “there are a number of options” for how it could do so, including moving troops into the corridor.

“We have looked into these and have yet to make a decision,” he added.

Mr Netanyahu’s comments marked an escalatory shift on the question of the Egypt-Gaza border.

Egyptian security officials earlier this month said Cairo has rejected Israel’s suggested plan to install surveillance cameras and sensors on the Gaza side of the border. Since the outbreak of the war, Egypt has hurriedly built a concrete wall and erected fences with barbed wire along the 13km length of the border with Gaza.