Palestinian Authority Refuses To Move Rafah Border Point

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH/Toa Heftiba

JAKARTA - Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh rejected Israel's efforts to move or replace the Rafah border, which connects the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

"Israel is trying to shift the border to other locations. We emphasize that this is purely an Egyptian and Palestinian matter," Shtayyeh said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, February 6.

Israeli media Channel 13, reported on Saturday (3/2) that the Israeli government was considering relocating the Rafah border to the Kelem SALom area.

The relocation of the crossing to the border triangle between Israel, Gaza and Egypt aims to prevent Cairo from intervening in its management, Anadolu reported.

Rafah's border crossing is the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched a deadly attack on Gaza, following the attack by the Palestinian Hamas group on October 7, 2023.

Israeli attacks killed at least 27,365 Palestinians and injured 66,630 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have died in Hamas attacks.

Israeli attacks also left 85 percent of Gaza's population displaced amid food shortages, clean water, and medicines, while 60 percent of infrastructure in the enclave has been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.