Israel informed Egypt this evening (Saturday) of its intention to send troops into Rafah and the Philadelphia axis area, despite Egypt’s firm opposition – this was reported by “Sky News Arabia”. According to the report, Egypt rejected the request.
Rafih struggle: the focus of the battles that may collapse Hamas
In response to a question about the crises with Qatar and Egypt, Prime Minister Netanyahu said this evening: “Relations with Egypt are ongoing and normal between the governments all the time. Each of us has interests, Egypt needs to say certain things. They take care of their interests and we take care of ours.”
As I recall, Diaa Rashvan, the director of the government information office in Egypt, said this week that any Israeli move to occupy the Philadelphia Axis on the border between Egypt and Gaza will lead to a grave and serious threat to relations between Israel and Egypt. At the same time, former IDF spokesman Avi Benyahu also hinted this week in his X account that the IDF may make its way further south, reaching Rafah, which borders Egypt. This, in the shadow of the claims in the general public about shuffling in the campaign in the Gaza Strip, and about the transition to the third phase of the war.
In the Arab media, news has spread in recent days, according to which the IDF demands that the soldiers on the Egyptian side clear the axis, in preparation for an attack on the place. During the war, the IDF has already carried out several airstrikes on targets in the city and recently also eliminated from the air a number of Hamas aides, including Sobhi Frauna, who he smuggled Millions of dollars to the al-Qassam arm and Hassan al-Atrash, the organization’s equipment supplier. “This is the rain before the flood – the operation to take over Rafah,” wrote Yaron Friedman in Maariv.