CAIRO
Egypt threatened on Wednesday to withdraw as a mediator in Gaza ceasefire negotiations as tensions continued to rise with Israel over its occupation of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing and allegations that its intelligence’s role in recent talks has aborted a truce deal.
Cairo was infuriated by a CNN report alleging that Egyptian intelligence changed terms of recent truce proposal beyond what the Americans and Qataris had suggested and hence scuttled the deal.
“Attempts to cast doubt and offend Egypt’s mediation efforts … will only lead to further complications of the situation in Gaza and the entire region and may push Egypt to completely withdraw from its mediation in the current conflict,” Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service, said in a statement published on social media.
Quoting three people familiar with the discussions, CNN on Tuesday said Egyptian intelligence changed terms of a ceasefire proposal that Israel agreed to earlier in May.
When Hamas announced on May 6 that it accepted the agreement, it was not the proposal that fellow mediators from the US and Qatar thought was submitted to Hamas for review, according to CNN.
A senior Egyptian source told CNN after the story was published: “Some parties play a game of accusing the mediators, blaming and accusing them of bias in order to evade making the required decisions. Egypt is surprised by the attempts of some parties to deliberately insult the Egyptian efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.”
The changes made by Egyptian intelligence caused anger and recrimination among US, Israeli and Qatari officials and caused an impasse in the talks, the CNN report said.
The CIA, whose director, William Burns, has been leading the US mediation efforts, declined to comment on the report.
Rashwan said in the statement that Cairo’s participation as a mediator resulted from “repeated requests and insistence” from Israel and the US.
Egypt said some “parties” recently directed blame towards Egyptian and Qatari mediators and accused them of being biased, he added.
The other contentious issue has to with Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing and the raising of its flag there.
Egypt refuses to cooperate with the Israelis before they reposition their troops.
Tensions have been growing between Egypt and Israel over the Israeli military operation in Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, just across the border from Egypt.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, Egypt has expressed concern that Israel’s campaign could push residents of the Palestinian enclave across its border, where it has bolstered security.
Egyptian security sources said Egypt cannot bring aid in through Rafah as this would mean an acceptance of the Israeli military’s presence at the crossing, which Egypt opposes.
For Egypt to agree to operations restarting at Rafah, a Palestinian presence was needed on the Gazan side of the crossing.
Aid access into southern Gaza has been disrupted since Israel stepped up military operations in Rafah, a move that the UN says has forced 900,000 people to flee and has raised tensions with Egypt.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday that the Israeli military presence and combat operations put truck drivers in danger.
Instead of seeking de-escalation of tension through compromise, Israeli authorities have been busy placing the sole blame on Egypt.
Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” news programme the hold-up was Egypt’s fault.
“Right now, Egypt is withholding 2,000 trucks of humanitarian assistance from going into Gaza because they have a political issue about the Rafah crossing,” Dermer said.
While Cairo vehemently rejects the blame, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday urged Egypt to do everything it can to make sure humanitarian aid is flowing into Gaza as food and medicine bound for the strip piles up on the Egyptian side.
Blinken told a hearing in the House of Representatives: “So we need to find a way to make sure that the assistance that would go through Rafah can get through safely, but we do strongly urge our Egyptian partners to do everything that they can on their end of things to make sure that assistance is flowing,” Blinken said.
