The Decibel - The Rafah border crossing’s significance for Gaza

Episode Date: October 25, 2023

The Rafah crossing – the sole entry point between Egypt and Gaza – remains a political, diplomatic and humanitarian tinderbox. While Egypt has kept the border firmly closed to Gazan refugees fleeing from the Israel-Hamas war, it has allowed an aid corridor for several dozen trucks delivering food, water and medical supplies. But relief workers say the aid is ‘insufficient’ for people’s needs in Gaza and Israel is not allowing fuel in despite pleas from aid groups.Geoffrey York, foreign correspondent for The Globe, talks about the crisis developing at the border and why it’s been so difficult to get things through and how Egypt’s relationship with Gaza and Israel plays into the situation.Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at [e-mail]

These trucks are not just trucks. They are a lifeline. They are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza. On Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Rafah border crossing. For two weeks after the war started between Israel and Hamas, no aid or supplies were getting to the people of Gaza. What we need is to make the move. To make the move to the other side of this wall. To make the move as quickly as

possible and as many as possible. Rafah is where trucks carrying medicine, food and water were finally allowed into the Gaza Strip this weekend. It's the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt and the only one not controlled by Israel. It's also the only crossing right now that allows any supplies into Gaza. But the border is being tightly controlled, and aid officials say that what

has gotten through is not nearly enough. And people who want to leave Gaza are also trying to get out through the Rafah crossing. Today, The Globe's foreign correspondent, Jeffrey York, is on the show. He's in Jerusalem and has been reporting on what's been going on at the Rafah border crossing. I spoke to him on Tuesday evening, his time. I'm Maina Karaman-Wilms, and this is The Decibel from The Globe and Mail. Jeff, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for having me. So the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza has been getting a lot of attention over the past week.

A lot of that is because of the relevance of movement of humanitarian aid into Gaza, but it's also because of people trying to leave Gaza potentially through this crossing. Before we get into this topic in depth, Jeff, I think we should just really start with the basics here. Can you describe where this border crossing is exactly? Yeah, the border crossing, the Rafah border crossing is in southern Gaza, between Gaza and Egypt. So traditionally, over the past 15 years or so, 20 years, there's been three gates between Gaza and the rest of the world. And two of those gates go into Israel. One of them is primarily for people, and one of them is primarily for cargo and aid shipments and so on. But since the October 7th Hamas attacks on southern Israel, those two crossings have been closed. And Israel has been adamant that it will not allow any aid or any supplies into Gaza. So that means that

the only gate that can be opened, even theoretically, is the Rafik crossing between Gaza and Egypt. So this is the only crossing that's not connected to Israel then? That's right. It's the only crossing aside from Israel. So that's why it's important. It's seen as, in many ways, Gaza's lifeline to the outside world. And Israel also controls the Mediterranean Sea, the coast there too as well. So we should just say that's not even an option either. That's right.

So who controls that crossing, the Rafah crossing, Jeff? Well, there are three of what I guess the UN calls stakeholders, Israel, Egypt, and Hamas. Israel doesn't really officially control that crossing because, of course, it's not in Israeli territory. But as a practical matter, Israel has a lot of influence over whether that crossing will be open or closed because Israel can bomb it or fire missiles at it any time. And they already have over the past two weeks, two and a half weeks, they have sent several missiles into locations close to the Rafah Crossing, around the crossing

or on the road. And that understandably has made people nervous about reopening the crossing. And again, as a practical matter, groups that are trying to get the Rafah Crossing reopened, including the United States, which has been lobbying very hard for this, as a practical matter, they have to deal with Israel. So the negotiations are with Israel and with Egypt. And of course, the third stakeholder is Hamas. And as a practical matter, they have a great deal of control over that crossing. But the real issue right now is getting agreement between Egypt and Israel and the United States, really, and the UN to allow aid shipments to go north from Egypt into Gaza. Okay. Okay. So this is between Egypt and Gaza, but there's a few different stakeholders,

as you said here, that are actually affecting the opening or the closing of this border. And just to be clear, when we're saying this crossing is closed, what do we mean exactly? Well, really nothing has gone into or out of Gaza since October 7th until finally this weekend when a small number of trucks were allowed in. The other important aspect is that people are not crossing from Gaza into Egypt. So really, people in Gaza have no way out except through Egypt, and that border has been closed. So today, we know that this border has been vital to getting any humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been very slow. You mentioned that this weekend, there were some trucks that were coming through. Jeff, what has actually come through the rapid crossing now?

Well, on Saturday, there was 20 trucks that came in. On Sunday, there was 14. And on Monday, again, there was another 20. So it's only a total of 54 in the first three days. And as the UN and other relief agencies have been pointing out, that's a tiny fraction of what Gaza needs. Before the war, Gaza was getting hundreds of truckloads of aid and other supplies every day. getting into, in fact, the amount of anything getting into Gaza in these daily truck convoys since Saturday is less than 5% of what it was previously getting on a normal day. So it's really only a trickle of what Gaza needs.

And what are some of the supplies that we're talking about that are actually coming through on these trucks and that are so badly needed in Gaza? Yeah. So far, it's been food, medicine, and water. So really the basics here we're talking about. Yes, exactly. And even those basics, it's been quite minimal. For example, water. In the first convoy, according to the UN, there was 44,000 bottles of water on the first convoy. That might seem like a big number, but in fact, it's only enough for 22,000 people in Gaza to have drinking water for a single day. So it's really a tiny, tiny drop in the ocean. Because there's something like 2.3 million people in Gaza, right? That's right. 2.3 million people in Gaza. And even if you gave all those water

bottles to people in Gaza on Saturday, it would only be a tiny, tiny percentage, like 22,000 out of 2.3 million who would get water. I also want to ask you about fuel, because this is not something that you mentioned is actually coming through the border crossing. Why is fuel not being allowed through? Well, Israel is refusing to allow fuel to come in. And that's because they say that it can easily be diverted to Hamas to use for their rockets and their other operations. So Israel has been adamant that it will not allow fuel to come in. And this has been a big point of contention because the UN agencies and even now the United States have been very clear that without fuel, you cannot operate water pumps. You cannot operate desalination plants that create drinking water from seawater.

You cannot operate ambulances. You cannot transport aid north from the Rafah Crossing. So you wouldn't be able to properly distribute the aid if there's no fuel. And the number one issue, of course, is that hospitals cannot operate without fuel because they're dependent on generators, power generators, which are running on fuel. They don't have electricity. Electricity is being cut off as well. So fuel is absolutely crucial for any distribution of humanitarian aid and for healthcare and water in Gaza. So Jeff, you said only dozens of trucks of

supplies are getting through. Hundreds are needed actually to supply the needs of the people there. Why is aid taking so long to get through and why is not enough coming through? Well, that's a really complicated question, but it seems pretty clear that one of the big reasons is Israel is still very, very suspicious of aid. Over the years, it has been suspicious that somehow military equipment or other equipment for Hamas has been getting in through these supply shipments in some way. And since October 7th, of course, it's been very adamant that nothing will get into Gaza that could benefit Hamas. So what it's doing right now, the arrangement right now, is that every truck will be inspected by the Israelis before it can be allowed into Gaza.

Now, that's a complicated process. You know, Israel is not permanently in Egypt, of course, so they have to get each truckload of aid to be inspected somewhere in Israel. And there is a border station, a terminal on the border of Israel and Egypt. It's about 40 kilometers away from the Rafik crossing. So the procedure right now is very complicated. First, the aid is flown into an airport in Egypt, then it gets put into trucks. And right now there's hundreds of truckloads sitting at that airport waiting for permission to get into Gaza. Then it gets taken to this border station, this terminal, where Israel inspects and verifies everything on all those trucks to make sure that they're satisfied that there's nothing in the trucks that could benefit Hamas. Then from there, they go another 40 kilometers to the Rafah crossing itself.

So that's one reason why the number of trucks every day has been quite minimal. But we also don't know to what extent Hamas itself is slowing it down. And of course, to what extent Egypt has been kind of limiting the aid supplies. They have their own concerns about how open that border should be. And over the years, of course, they have often restricted that border, and now they have even more concerns. Yeah. So with such few supplies actually coming in to Gaza, Jeff, I mean, what has this meant for the people who are in Gaza? Well, it's been a disaster. The 2.3 million people of Gaza are rapidly running out of food and water and medicine and fuel. There are some stocks of fuel that are still left, but it's believed that the fuel will run out in a matter of days, which means that the

hospitals will have to shut down. You know, a number of hospitals have already shut down. On the food side, we know that food is running out as well. A number of bakeries have been forced to close. That's largely, again, because of a lack of fuel. But without the bakeries, people in Gaza have been lining up for up to five hours just to get bread. So food is a major concern. Medicine is, again, being a major concern. We've got reports that doctors in Gaza are performing operations without anesthetic, with patients screaming in pain during these operations because there's no anesthetic. We had a report from a doctor who posted a photo of a bottle of vinegar,

and he said that that's what he's been forced to use, vinegar that he bought at a local store to treat infections. So, you know, they're improvising as best they can, but there's a real shortage of medical supplies, and it looks like it's only going to get worse. I mean, people are searching for water for sometimes hours at a time. People are drinking dirty water sometimes. They're forced to drink whatever they have. It could be water that's contaminated with seawater or with pesticides. They're vulnerable to dehydration. It even affects things like food. The UN has been pointing out that some of the early food deliveries have included things like lentils and rice. And in order to consume lentils and rice, you need both water and cooking fuel. Of course.

And people don't have that. So people are definitely paying a high price for the lack of aid. We'll be back in a minute. All right, Jeff, we've talked about aid getting into Gaza, but now let's talk about people trying to cross the Rafah crossing the other way. We know that people are trying to leave, including over 350 Canadians who are trying to get out of Gaza. What is stopping them from leaving? Well, that's, again, kind of a murky question, but we know some of the answers. We know that Hamas itself doesn't want very many people to

leave. They're clearly a factor in this. And let's not forget Israel, too, because if there's a threat of firing missiles at the road between Gaza and Egypt, then that's a factor as well. But, you know, the real key player here is Egypt, because even if a few hundred people from Gaza were to cross into Egypt, let's say if the United States or Canada were able to get their several hundred nationals or citizens from Gaza to cross into Egypt, the concern that Egypt would have is that once you open the border, once you open that gate for a few hundred people, you then could lose control of the situation. And if there's enough people panicking and desperately trying to get out of Gaza, then they could just force their way through as soon as you open the gate. So it could become an uncontrolled situation. So that's one concern. You know,

politically, Egypt does not want to be seen as collaborating with Israel on perhaps an exodus of Palestinians from Gaza, because that diminishes the possibility of the Palestinians having their own state. Can you just elaborate a little bit on that, Jeff? Why would letting people into Egypt be seen as, in a way, helping Israel? Yes. The big concern would be that once they cross from Gaza into Egypt, Israel would do everything possible potentially to prevent them from coming back. It might be a one-way street. That's the fear that people have. Now, there are many people in Gaza, of course, who do not want to leave traditional land. They do not want to diminish the possibility of a future Palestinian state. So they, you know, many people are determined to stay in Gaza no matter what

happens. I guess, what is Egypt's relationship with Gaza and the people that live there? I mean, is there, does Egypt support one side or the other in this war? Well, you know, nominally, Egypt supports the Palestinian cause. And in fact, you know, ever since October 7th, there's been huge concern in Egypt. And, you know, we did see last Friday protests and demonstrations across Egypt, including in Cairo, with people, actually thousands of people, perhaps tens of thousands of people bursting past the police lines and going back to Tahrir Square, the heart of the Arab Spring. So that was the first time that people have been back there for protests. And the current regime in Egypt, President al-Sisi does not allow protests, almost never. So it was very unusual that they allowed

protests to take place in support of Gaza, in support of Palestinians last Friday. And to some extent, the regime, President al-Sisi got ahead of the mood, basically tried to sort of almost capitalize on the mood by making those, to some extent, a state-sanctioned or state-organized protest. So they were officially sanctioned in certain areas. And in a way, President el-Sisi was sending a message that he supports the cause by allowing these demonstrations. So even while nominally supporting the Palestinian cause, he has his own personal agenda, which would mean that he doesn't want to offer refuge to 2.3 million people from Gaza for his own reasons, as well as for the Palestinian cause. So it sounds like there's a bit of a political calculation then

happening as well on the Egyptian side. Exactly. Yeah. He's got his own agenda. He's concerned with preserving his power and not allowing sort of wildcard factors like Gaza undermining his power. So there's some reasons there for why Egypt doesn't want to open this border crossing and let people through. You also mentioned, Jeff, that Hamas doesn't necessarily want this border crossing open and have people go through. Can you spell it out for us here? Why is that? Well, I think probably several factors. I mean, politically, of course, they would, or ideologically, they would argue that Palestinians should not leave their territory. But the other factor, you know, we can't be too naive here. Hamas is operating within civilian areas in Gaza, and Israel is accusing it of using human shields, basically. So if all the civilians left Gaza, then it would be much easier for Israel to use military force against Hamas.

Yeah. All right. So movement from the Rafah border crossing, both in terms of aid going into Gaza and of people trying to leave Gaza, it's proving to be difficult in both directions. Jeff, is there a sense that things will change on either of those fronts in the coming days? from other countries, including Canada, and certainly from the UN and from other relief agencies to get a bigger flow of humanitarian aid. You know, the US and Canada have been quite open in saying that what's happening now is insufficient. What they're pushing for is consistent, large amount of aid crossing every day. And basically, that would become a humanitarian corridor. And that's what they want.

Jeff, thank you so much for taking the time to walk us through all this today. Thank you. That's it for today. I'm Naina Karaman-Wilms. Our producers are Madeline White, Cheryl Sutherland, and Rachel Levy-McLaughlin. David Crosby edits the show. Adrian Chung is our senior producer, and Angela Pachenza

is our executive editor. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.