First Time Since 2005, Israeli Army Seizes Philadelphi Corridor on Egypt-Gaza Border

GAZA – For the first time since 2005, Israeli troops moved to the eastern side of the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

The Israeli army said, Tuesday morning (7/5/2024), that the 401st armored brigade controlled the Rafah border area on the Palestinian side of the southern Gaza Strip.

The military statement said Israeli forces were carrying out “combing operations” in the eastern Rafah area they captured.

Army footage showed Israeli tanks passing through the area and Israeli flags raised on the Gaza side.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Border Crossing Authority said the border terminal was closed from the Palestinian side.

Egypt condemned Israel’s military control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah Crossing, calling the action a “dangerous escalation” that endangers the safety of more than a million Palestinians.

They called on the Israeli colonial regime to exercise “maximum self-control” and for international parties to intervene “to defuse the current crisis”.

Rafah is home to more than 1.5 million Palestinians, who have fled Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Strategic Route

The Philadelphi Corridor, also called the “Saladin Axis,” is a 14-kilometer (8.69 mi) strip of land guaranteed by the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.

This place has been patrolled by Egyptian security forces after the Israeli army withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005.