An exchange of fire between Egyptian and Israeli troops on opposite sides of the Rafah crossing on 27 May has sounded the alarm. The incident, which resulted in the killing of an Egyptian security guard, could be a spark that detonates a larger explosion.
Tensions have been piling up between Egypt and Israel since the latter started its assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah and occupied the Palestinian side on 7 May. Although Israel only stationed a few armoured vehicles and tanks near and around the crossing, it was enough to incense Cairo. It views the move as impinging on Egypt's sovereignty and an attempt to undermine its role as a mediator in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Egypt's regional relevance has long been linked to its mediating role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. When Hamas won Palestinian elections and kicked out the Palestinian Authority in 2007, Israel closed all five of its border crossings into Gaza, making the Egyptian border crossing into Rafah the only gateway in and out of the besieged enclave. Cairo's ability to turn off the food, fuel and aid tap if Hamas 'misbehaved' gave it leverage over the group.
"Egypt is worried that Israel is trying to legitimise its security presence at the crossing," Hussein Haridi, former assistant to the Egyptian foreign minister, told Al Majalla.
Egypt has opposed Israel's onslaught from the very beginning. It was, of course, outraged by the mass murder and destruction Israel has inflicted on Gaza, but it was also worried that desperate Palestinians would flee into the Sinai—the Egyptian desert that shares a border with both Gaza and Israel.
As Israel's military offensive pushed Palestinians further and further south, Egypt believed that a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians was only a matter of time. In what could have been an effort to allay Egyptian concerns, Israel ordered Palestinians in Rafah to move yet again to the Mawasi area in the Western part of Gaza and also to Khan Younis, a city just north of Gaza that has already been mostly destroyed by Israel.
However, Israel is still in violation of a 2005 agreement with Egypt which bans the presence of Israeli troops in the 14-kilometre-long border stretch between Sinai and Gaza, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
Egyptian reaction
Egypt has shown its anger by refusing to coordinate the entry of humanitarian and relief aid into Gaza with Israel in control of the Rafah crossing. As a result, hundreds of tonnes of food aid that had been parked in the Sinai awaiting entry ended up expiring. Egypt says the presence of Israeli troops on the Gaza side of the crossing means it cannot ensure the safety of those delivering it.
Additionally, Cairo announced that it would formally join South Africa in its case against Israel in the International Court of Justice. The top UN court has already accused Israel of carrying out a plausible genocide and, in its most recent ruling, has ordered Israel to halt its operations in Rafah immediately—a ruling that has been outright ignored. And finally, Egypt—which, together with Qatar, has been sponsoring mediation between Israel and Hamas—also threatened to pull out of the talks.
Powder keg
All in all, the accumulation of tensions between Egypt and Israel makes the recent exchange of fire between the two sides all the more concerning. The situation has turned into a powder keg that has the potential to explode with each escalatory incident.
Israel has claimed it was an Egyptian soldier who started shooting, while Cairo has been tight-lipped, saying the incident is "being investigated". However, the exchange came just after Israel bombed a displacement camp in Rafah, killing more than 40 civilians—mostly women and children, who had been sleeping in their tents.
The massacre has enraged millions of people across the world, as well as many in the Egyptian military establishment. Egypt's defence minister articulated the growing anger within the army on 23 May during a live-fire military drill in Ismailia, on the west bank of the Suez Canal, only kilometres away from the Sinai. "The army will always be at its highest combat readiness," Gen. Mohamed Zaki said.
Israeli actions in the past months have demonstrated that it is careful not to throw its 1979 peace treaty with Egypt—which has the largest and most powerful army in the Arab world—into jeopardy.
"Peace has been very beneficial to Israel, having neutralised the Egyptian front," professor of political science at Suez Canal University, Gamal Salama, told Al Majalla.
Despite the peace treaty between the two countries and even before Israel's current war on Gaza, the Egyptian street still considered Israel an enemy. Less than a year ago, in June 2023, an Egyptian policeman crossed into Israel and shot dead three Israeli troops before being shot dead himself. He was hailed as a hero among Egyptians.
And incidents like the 27 May shootout demonstrate the fragility of peace between the two countries.
