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| Israel ’offers Egypt Gaza role’ |
| 2004-02-27 |
| Israel has reportedly asked Egypt to take control of part of the Gaza Strip in the event of an Israeli withdrawal. The idea was discussed when Israeli intelligence officials visited Cairo earlier this month, Israeli security sources were quoted as saying. Under the plan, Egyptian forces would replace Israeli troops in a narrow corridor between the town of Rafah in Gaza and the Egyptian border. Israel has said it is considering pulling out of most of the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops have frequently clashed with Palestinians attempting to smuggle weapons and explosives into Gaza from Egypt by tunnelling under the Israel-controlled perimeter, known as the Philadelphia Corridor. The Philadelphia Corridor? No wonder there is so much seething and rage, they’re Eagles fans with explosives! Israel is concerned that the Islamic militant group Hamas will take over in Gaza if Israel withdraws, making the flow of illicit arms impossible to control. And this is different from today, how? Egypt is also reportedly worried that the spread of Hamas’ power in Gaza will influence Islamic fundamentalists in Egypt and destabilise Hosni Mubarak’s government. Hummm Former Israeli Defence Minster Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Egypt had promised to prevent arms smuggling to Gaza if Israel pulled out, Israel radio reported. Yeah, sure. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he will dismantle most of the 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and redeploy troops if peace talks with the Palestinians ultimately fail. A time frame for a withdrawal has not been made public. The prospect of an Egyptian security role in Gaza will be discussed when Mr Sharon’s bureau chief, Dov Weisglass, visits the White House next week, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported. The corridor, several hundred metres wide, was retained by Israel when most of Gaza was turned over to the Palestinian Authority under peace accords in the 1990s. The town of Rafah was split between Israel and Egypt after the two sides signed the Camp David peace treaty in 1978. Interesting. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 Ruprecht is right! Once Israel has disengaged and locked the gate they will us the guns and bombs on each other. The Left is getting distinctly nervous about large scale paleo on plaeo atrocities. It will blow their it all the fault of the Jooos argument out of the water. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-2-27 7:11:44 PM |
| #6 What I don't get is why Israel cares. Hamas could be knee deep in weapons after the IDF pulls out, it doesn't matter if they can't get the weapons in close proximity to Jews. Let them blow each other up in Gaza. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-2-27 4:20:47 PM |
| #5 The IDF will seem gentle by comparison if Hosni thinks he needs to crack down on Hamas in Gaza and gets the chance. |
| Posted by: sludj 2004-2-27 2:34:55 PM |
| #4 Great. Let Egypt deal with an organization dedicated to murder by any means possible. Good riddance. My only concern is whether there will be factions within the Egyptian military that are sympathetic to Hamas. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2004-2-27 12:50:13 PM |
| #3 What an interesting idea. "Egypt is also reportedly worried that the spread of Hamas’ power in Gaza will influence Islamic fundamentalists in Egypt and destabilise Hosni Mubarak’s government." Let's see how long it takes before the truncheons come out. |
| Posted by: Daniel King 2004-2-27 11:17:22 AM |
| #2 Poisoned chalice Mr. Mubarak? |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-2-27 10:33:29 AM |
| #1 The Philadelphia Corridor? No wonder there is so much seething and rage, they’re Eagles fans with explosives! ROTFLMAO! |
| Posted by: Steve from Relto 2004-2-27 9:51:02 AM |