Despite vows by Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority gains foothold in Gaza Strip

Palestinian Authority reportedly managing strategically critical border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. despite of repeated pledges by the Prime Minister’s Office that PA will have no role in Gaza security.

By World Israel News Staff

The Palestinian Authority has assumed partial control of a strategically critical position along the Gaza-Egyptian border recently, giving Ramallah a foothold in the Gaza Strip, Yedioth Aharanoth reported Monday morning.

According to the report, for the past two days, Palestinian Authority officials have administered the Rafah Border Crossing on the Gazan side of the Egypt-Gaza frontier.

Citing Louy Izriqat, a spokesman for the PA’s paramilitary security force, Fares a-Rifi, a member of the PA’s ruling Fatah party who lives in the Gaza Strip, has been given control of the Rafah Border Crossing police station.

A-Rifi and other PA officials are said to be managing the border crossing in conjunction with a joint mission of Egyptian security officials and Europeans, who have been tasked with ensuring compliance with the ceasefire deal and to prevent the movement of terrorists across the border.

Thus far, movement across the border is only permitted out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

The report contradicts repeated claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose office denied prior reports of the PA’s planned role in managing the Rafah Border Crossing.

Last month, the Prime Minister’s Office denied claims by Ramallah that the PA was poised to take control of the Rafah crossing during the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza.

In a statement issued on January 22, the PMO claimed that the PA’s role would be strictly technical, providing exit stamps on the passports of departing Gazans.

“The report is incorrect despite efforts by the Palestinian Authority to create a false picture to the effect that it controls the crossing,” the PMO said.

Netanyahu’s office emphasized that the IDF will remain “positioned around the crossing” and that there will be “no passage without the supervision, oversight, and advance approval of the IDF” and the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency.

“The technical management inside the crossing is being carried out by Gazans not affiliated with Hamas, with security by the ISA, who have been managing civilian services in the Strip, such as electricity, water, and sewage, since the start of the war. Their work is supervised by the international EUBAM force.”

“The only practical involvement of the Palestinian Authority is its stamp on the passports, which, according to the existing international arrangement, is the only way Gazans may leave the Strip in order to enter, or be received in, other countries.”

However, a social media post by a-Rifi’s brother congratulating him on the new role suggested the PA force’s involvement is more significant that suggested by the PMO.

“The legitimate Palestinian police are the ones who will control and maintain security at the Rafah crossing under the command of Fares a-Rifi,” he said.

The PA team operating at the Rafah crossing reportedly includes nine officers.

The report claimed that the PA team’s work on the Rafah crossing was initiated following intense coordination with Israeli agencies, including the Shin Bet, the IDF, and the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration.

Former National Security Minister MK Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit), who bolted the ruling coalition last month over the Gaza ceasefire, castigated the government following the report.

“The Israeli government continues to violate the promises and principles it declared in the context of the reckless deal,” Ben-Gvir tweeted Monday.

“The Prime Minister has emphasized countless times that he will not allow the Authority to manage the transition and that it is a security risk, but unfortunately, he is also folding on this issue,” he added.

“The government allows the Palestinian Authority – the one that pays salaries to terrorists – to control the gates of Gaza. How low will we go?”

gaza stripItamar Ben-GvirPalestinian AuthorityRafah crossing