EgyptianAmerican
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The official transfer control over the border crossings between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to the Palestinian unity government was marked by the playing of two anthems, the Palestinian and the Egyptian. By all rights, the Israeli national anthem should have been played as well, as the agreement over which Egypt has been slaving for the last couple of months wouldn’t have been born if Israel hadn’t agreed to it. In contrast to its usual policy, that it not only won’t cooperate with Hamas, but also not with a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas as well as Fatah, Israel is actually happy with the new arrangements.
This isn’t the only aspect of the situation in which Israel is ignoring parts of the agreement over the crossing points signed between Israel and the Palestinians in 2005. Even though Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have said that management of the crossing points, particularly the opening of the Rafah crossing point between Gaza and Egypt, would have to be based on the 2005 agreement, this time the arrangements include no supervision by the European Union.
The arrangements when it comes to the supervision of the passage of goods and the movement of people over the border won’t be as set forth in the original agreement. That's particularly true at the Rafah border crossing, which is expected to open in a couple of weeks. The Egyptians aren’t bound by the original agreement because they weren’t signatories to it. They have therefore freed themselves of Israel’s terms for opening the crossing point.
The handing over of control of the border crossings to the Palestinian government, as part of the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah and the warming of relations between Egypt and Hamas puts Israel on the horns of a diplomatic and security dilemma. Israel finds itself cooperating with the Palestinian national unity government, despite its official position. (The Israeli excuse is that control over the crossing points would be in the hands of Palestinian Authority police, so the agreement is kosher, but the Palestinian police are working in full coordination with Hamas). The anticipated opening of the Rafah border crossing also renders any Israeli blockade of Gaza irrelevant.
Egypt, which had been Israel’s wholehearted partner in the blockade, is effectively withdrawing from its unwritten arrangement with Israel on the matter. It’s true that Egypt will continue to check the identity of the people passing through the Rafah crossing and will try to stop terrorists from moving between Gaza and Sinai. But when it comes to the economic punishment of Gaza as a means of crushing Hamas, Egypt is making a 180-degree turn, embracing Fatah-Hamas reconciliation, meaning that the Palestinian national unity government is seen as the entity responsible for the State of Palestine.
The transfer of control over the crossing points is just the first step in shaping a united Palestinian government, in the context of Palestinian and Egyptian recognition that a full peace agreement based on a two-state solution isn’t realistic as long as Israel remains controlled by an extreme right-wing government, and as long as the United States treats the peace process as light entertainment. Despite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ statement that any united Palestinian government would have to recognize the State of Israel, obviously that doesn’t bind Hamas at this time, and it actually has no real implications.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.820467
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What do you guys think?