BICOM

Large numbers of Palestinian residents of Gaza entered Egypt over the weekend, following a landmark decision by the Egyptian government to scale back restrictions on entry and exit to and from Gaza via the Rafah crossing. Women, children and men over 40 are now permitted to travel freely in and out of the Strip. Men aged between 18 and 40 still require a visa. The southern route into Gaza has been controlled by Egypt since Israel’s disengagement from the Strip in 2005. Israel has maintained a blockade of Gaza since Hamas seized power in 2007. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime, which opposed Hamas because of the latter’s links to Iran and to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, participated in the closure of Gaza. The new Egyptian government has now ended this participation. Egypt has also announced that it will waive visa requirements for Palestinians arriving from other departure points, with the exception of Libya.

Israel is concerned that this could mean an increase in weapons smuggling into the Strip. Egypt, however, maintains that it will continue to conduct thorough searches of all those crossing into and exiting the Strip. Israeli officials note the significant breakdown in law enforcement in the northern Sinai area since the departure of Hosni Mubarak, and are sceptical regarding the will or ability of the Cairo authorities to enforce their writ on this area. According to a senior Egyptian security official on Al-Hayyat satellite television on Monday, over 400 al-Qaida members have made their way into the Sinai Peninsula. At the same time, there are many in Israel who consider that the Egyptian decision could be a blessing in disguise. With Egypt now opening a land route into Gaza, it will be difficult to maintain that the area is under. Also, the Egyptian decision, linking Gaza to Egypt, furthers the process of disengagement for Israel.