THE BORDER WITH GAZA THAT IS OFTEN FORGOTTEN

Gaza does not only border Israel. It also shares a roughly 14 kilometer frontier with Egypt, including the Rafah crossing and the area known as the Philadelphi Corridor.

The modern border arrangement dates back to the Israeli Egyptian peace process and Israel’s withdrawal from Sinai. After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Egypt deployed border guards along its side under the Philadelphi Accord, in part to prevent weapons smuggling and infiltration.

After Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, security concerns increased dramatically. Smuggling tunnels became a major problem, and in 2008 the border barrier was breached, allowing hundreds of thousands of Gazans to cross into Egypt before Egyptian forces resealed it.

Egypt subsequently went much further. Beginning in 2014, it created a large security buffer zone on its side of Rafah, demolishing hundreds of homes and clearing territory specifically to combat tunnels, weapons smuggling and militant infiltration.

In 2020 Egypt began constructing an additional concrete wall, reported at around seven meters high and equipped with electronic sensors.

So when people talk about Gaza as though Israel is the only country that has built barriers and imposed strict border security, one important fact is often missing:

Egypt built walls, created buffer zones, destroyed buildings along its own frontier and restricted movement because Egypt, too, considers the Gaza border a serious security concern.

The Egyptian border is an important part of the Gaza story. It should not disappear from the conversation simply because it complicates the popular narrative.

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