“Philadelphia Axis”; Netanyahu’s stick in the wheel of negotiations
The Philadelphia axis has become one of the most important points of dispute in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations; But what is the story of this difference?
Eviralnews, controlling the Philadelphia axis is a long-term strategic goal for the Israeli regime, and the prime minister of this regime, Benjamin Netanyahu, wants to maintain his control over this axis in the political and prime ministerial arenas under the pretext of preventing Hamas’ attempts to smuggle weapons.
The Philadelphia axis, which is also known as the “Salahuddin” axis, is located along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The length of this axis is 14 km and it extends from the Mediterranean Sea in the north of the Gaza Strip to the Karam Abu Salem crossing in the south of this strip.
Philadelphia and Egypt
Based on the compromise agreement between Egypt and the Zionist regime in 1979, the Philadelphia axis or Salah al-Din was established as a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip and parallel to the border with Egypt, 14 kilometers long from the Karam Abu Salem crossing to the Gaza coast in the Mediterranean Sea.
Until 2005, the Israeli regime controlled the Philadelphia axis as part of its jurisdiction, but after withdrawing from this area, it handed over control to the self-governing organizations. The forces of self-governing organizations were in control of this area until 2007. In the same year, after 18 months of negotiations, a new security agreement was signed between Cairo and Tel Aviv, according to which 750 people from the Egyptian border guard will be allowed to be present in this area with light weapons.
According to this agreement, the Egyptian security forces were supposed to prevent the “infiltration and illegal transfer of goods or military equipment” to Gaza.
After the Al-Aqsa storm operation on October 7, Israeli security officials claimed that one of the weapons transfer routes to Gaza is the underground tunnels of the Philadelphia axis in the southwest of Gaza. Accordingly, by sending a security delegation to Cairo, Tel Aviv demanded the deployment of its forces in this area and the installation of surveillance cameras and sensors. Despite the emphasis of Netanyahu’s right-wing cabinet on the fulfillment of this demand, the Egyptian government does not want to implement this demand.
Simultaneously with the attacks of the Israeli regime on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, Egypt’s concerns regarding the formation of a wave of forced migration into the country’s territory intensified, and for this reason, Egypt has repeatedly warned the Israeli regime about the consequences and dangers of a ground attack on Rafah.
In this regard, the “Al-Cairo” news channel recently, quoting a high-ranking source who did not reveal his name, denied the claims made by the Israeli media about Cairo’s agreement with the army of the occupying regime remaining in the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphia axis. He emphasized that “these news are completely baseless”.
Philadelphia and the armistice negotiations
The Philadelphia axis has now become one of the most important points of disagreement in the ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip, and while US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the agreement of the Israeli regime with the proposed agreement during his trip to the region, Netanyahu said that he was ready to withdraw from the axis. Not Philadelphia.
These statements of Netanyahu led to a difference between him and the negotiating team of the Israeli regime, and this team considered Netanyahu’s statements against the agreements made with the mediators and declared that Netanyahu’s purpose in making these statements is to disrupt the agreement.
The Philadelphia axis has created differences even among the heads of the ZioIsraeli nist regime, and Netanyahu says that the presence of this regime’s forces on the border prevents the smuggling of weapons to Gaza, while the army officials of this regime believe that the Philadelphia border can be remotely monitored. and the soldiers of the occupying regime can also carry out attacks in it if necessary.
Why Philadelphia?
Controlling the Philadelphia axis is a long-term strategic goal for the Israeli regime, and this regime wants to build a huge wall there under the pretext of preventing Hamas’ attempts to smuggle weapons. In this regard, the Hamas movement and other Palestinian resistance groups consider this action by Tel Aviv as another attempt by this regime to impose a “siege” and “suffocate” Gaza.
Jordanian expert “Mohammed al-Muqabala” says about Netanyahu’s insistence on dominating the Philadelphia axis and staying in it: He wants to achieve political and military goals by talking about the need for Israel to control the Philadelphia axis between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
This expert believes: From a political point of view, Netanyahu wants to tell his internal front that by controlling the road separating Gaza and Egypt, we were able to achieve an achievement in the Gaza Strip. From the security point of view, he wants to prevent arms smuggling from inside Egypt to the Gaza Strip by fully controlling the borders.
Mohammad al-Muqabala says: The occupiers definitely want to flatten the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip from the east of Gaza to the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of 2 kilometers and carry out excavations in it to actually create a buffer zone, which is considered a new occupation in the Gaza Strip. .
He also emphasizes the role of the resistance and its stance towards these actions of the Israeli regime: the resistance will absolutely not allow the implementation of ambitions in this region and will fight against it with all its might. This issue is also related to the Egyptian side, and the creation of the buffer zones considered by Netanyahu is a violation of the agreement that was signed between the Egyptians and the Israelis .
In this regard, Arab political analyst Antoine Shalhat says: Netanyahu wants to achieve achievements that will keep him in the political arena and as prime minister, and to achieve that, he is ready to throw the region into the heart of a regional war. America is well aware of this issue and that is why they oppose Netanyahu’s plans.
“Talal Aukal”, an expert on political issues, also believes that Netanyahu, with his frequent talks about the Philadelphia axis, is seeking to put pressure on Egypt as the most powerful mediator in the ceasefire and on the Biden government to fulfill his conditions regarding the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. put
Aukal says: Netanyahu does not actually want to end the Gaza war, on the contrary, he wants to prolong it, and this is against the wishes of the international community and the countries of the region.
