“The main objective,” the report said, is not the capture of Rafah, but “the prevention of weapons and arms smuggling.”
The current protocol between Israel and Egypt, agreed when Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, calls for Egypt to secure the border with a force of 750 soldiers equipped to fight terrorism and smuggling. Israeli officials say the deal is outdated, not least because Hamas took control of the enclave in 2007, and Mr Netanyahu has vowed to restore security along the border. Egypt says it has taken significant measures to secure the area and eliminate the tunnels, and that some smuggling into Gaza is also taking place from Israel.
“There are now three barriers between Sinai and Palestinian Rafah, making any smuggling operation impossible, either above or below ground,” Egypt’s chief spokesperson Diaa Rashwan said on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, the United States is brokering an agreement between Egypt and Israel to build a more technologically advanced barrier on the Egyptian side of the border, which would be financed by Washington and could be controlled from afar by the United States and Israel.
Should Israel capture Rafah and secure the border, the question of who will govern Gaza after the fighting ends remains unanswered. “The key to making Gaza safe for the Israelis, and for that matter Gazans, lies in what follows the fighting,” said Lawrence Freedman, professor emeritus of war studies at King’s College London.
“From the beginning, the most obvious flaw has been the lack of a credible political dimension to Israel’s strategy,” Mr. Freedman wrote in an email. Israel, he added, has failed to realize the impact of the heavy civilian casualties on its reputation and has also failed to formulate a plan for the Gaza government and its reconstruction, “essential if Hamas does not want to return to its former position.”