What is the “Philadelphia Corridor” located on the border between Gaza and Egypt?

The road has become strategic again since the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel and the start of the war in the Gaza Strip.

Map “Empty” Before the invasion. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked his army to submit one “joint plan” No“Empty” Citizens of Rafah and “destruction” of Hamas. The Israeli offensive in this last city south of the enclave comes when some 1.3 million Palestinians, most displaced by the fighting, are crowded there.

It remains to be seen where Palestinian civilians can be expelled: to the Egyptian Sinai? Another question, will the Israeli army take control of the “Philadelphia Corridor”? The latter, also known as the “Saladin Corridor”, is the route that runs along Gaza’s border with Egypt. It is a strip of land 14 kilometers long and 100 meters wide. Due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian enclave, the road has once again become a strategic issue for the Jewish state.

The Lebanese daily recalls that this corridor was established as a buffer zone after the Camp David Accords. Orient – Day. These agreements, signed by Egypt and Israel in September 1978, ended the thirty-year conflict between the two countries with a peace treaty the following year. Captured by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967, the Sinai region was returned to Egypt but Israel continues to control the corridor. A Jewish state present in Gaza could thus protect itself from attack and avoid arms circulation between the Palestinian enclave and Egypt. The name will also be combined with the code name used by the Israeli army for the border area “Philadelphia”. When the Hebrew state decided to leave Gaza in 2005, the corridor came under Egyptian control, recalls. Cross. By regaining control of the border with Gaza, Cairo is committed to combating arms trafficking.

Tensions with Egypt

With the war against Hamas, regaining control of this route has become essential for the Jewish state. “The Philadelphia Corridor must be in our hands and under our control, and any other arrangement will not be accepted by Israel”, Benjamin Netanyahu announced at a press conference on December 30. Enough to reignite tensions between the two countries. “Any Israeli move aimed at occupying the Philadelphia axis in the Gaza Strip would pose a grave and serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations”In late January, the head of the Egyptian General Information Organization, Dia Rashwan, announced.

The pressure is intensifying with orders given to the Israeli army to prepare for an offensive on Rafah, close to the corridor. In late January, Diya Rashwan explained that her country’s borders “Will not be taken hostage by a group of extremist Israeli leaders”. The Philadelphia Corridor is thus visible “red line” For Egyptian authorities who add that they refuse to see Gazans become refugees in Egypt’s Sinai.