The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) refused to manage the Rafah crossing on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt as long as it remains occupied by the Israeli army, an official source revealed today.
A Palestinian official said the United States put pressure on Benjamin Netanyah’s government to open the crossing and hand it over to the PNA, but the latter refused as long as it remains «under Israeli rule».
The Authority stipulated that, in order to receive the crossing, it is necessary to accept the Arab peace plan, which stipulates the cessation of war, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the country’s commitment to a timetable of negotiations for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the source told Sky News Arabia television.
Israeli troops eight days ago occupied the crossing, which for the past seven months has been Gaza’s only gateway for food, medicine and fuel. Days ago, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), political parties and movements rejected any foreign control over the area.
We reject any form of guardianship over the Rafah crossing and attempts to harm Palestinian sovereignty over it, in partnership with our brothers in Egypt,» PLO executive committee secretary Hussein Al-Sheikh warned in X. «We reject any form of guardianship over the Rafah crossing and attempts to harm Palestinian sovereignty over it, in partnership with our brothers in Egypt,» he said.
Meanwhile, the follow-up committee of the National and Islamic Forces, which brings together Palestinian factions, also announced its opposition to the Netanyahu government’s plans.
In a statement, the committee warned against attempts to hand over control and management of the crossing to a US security company.
Regardless of the veracity of these reports, we will not accept any form of imposed guardianship over the crossing or any other part of the coastal enclave, it said.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine expressed a similar view.
Any foreign group that takes over the management of this facility will be considered an occupying force and therefore a legitimate target, it warned.
The crossing is purely Palestinian and Egyptian, according to international law, the left-wing party said.
The Israeli daily Haaretz revealed that Netanyahu intends to transfer responsibility for the management of the Rafah crossing to a private US company once the military campaign is over.
It said that the firm’s members are former soldiers from US army special units, trained to protect strategic sites in conflict zones in Africa.
