The Egypt-Palestine border, also called Egypt-Gaza border, is the 12-kilometre (7.5-mile) long border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. For hundreds of years Gaza held importance as a strategic location along the trade routes between empires. It was also a great center for agriculture.
Palestine is made up of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. The West Bank and Jerusalem are connected, though checkpoints make movement challenging. Gaza, however, is separated from the rest of Palestine.
Map of Gaza Strip
Historical Context
The demarcation of Palestine’s southern border with Egypt evolved over several decades and stages. On 1 October 1906, the Ottoman and British governments agreed on a boundary between Ottoman-ruled Palestine and British-ruled Egypt, running from Taba to Rafah.
In early October 1906, Egyptian and Ottoman delegates signed the agreement finalizing the border in Rafah, in which the border line was described as an “administrative separating line” rather than a political or international one, between “the Hijaz vilayet and the Jerusalem mutasarrifate” on one side, and “the exalted Egyptian Khedivate” on the other.
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After Britain assumed the mandate for Palestine, it had the responsibility of demarcating the borders of this Mandate entity, to ensure the smooth transition from the borders of a province within an empire to the borders of a state entity. Although after World War I, Mandatory Palestine was also under British control, the Egypt-Palestine boundary was maintained to control the movement of the local Bedouin.
On 28 February 1922, Britain declared the end of its protectorate over Egypt, which was now to become an independent sovereign state; Egypt’s borders would now be considered as international borders. The British Mandate over Palestine reinforced those borders by drawing what was known as the “separating line” between Egypt and Palestine.
The Rafah Border Crossing
The Rafah Border Crossing is the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Only passage of persons takes place through the Rafah Border Crossing; as such, the Egypt-Gaza border is only open to the passage of people, not of goods.
Before the war began in October 2023, the 12-kilometer (7.5 mile) Rafah border with Egypt was the only direct border to the external world. Rafah was one of three crossings for Gaza residents. However, in May of 2024, Israel seized the Rafah crossing and implemented a total closure of that border.
Why is Rafah crossing tightly controlled? BBC Africa
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The Philadelphi Route
In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty that returned the Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip, to Egyptian control. As part of that treaty, a 100-meter-wide strip of land, known as the Philadelphi Route, was established as a buffer zone between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Under the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, the Philadelphi Route buffer zone was a 100-meter-wide strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border. Since 2001, the IDF demolished Palestinian houses in Rafah to create the buffer zone.
Israel's military has said it has taken control of the strategically important buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border known as the Philadelphi Corridor, meaning it now controls Gaza's entire land border. A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said about 20 tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza had been found within the zone.
Philadelphi Route
Current Challenges and Restrictions
Even before October 2023, Gaza’s residents lived under a blockade that severely restricted movement and the flow of goods. During the war, those restrictions tightened further, alternating between total closure and brief, heavily controlled openings that allowed only limited amounts of food, fuel, medicine, and aid to enter. Now, after a tenuous ceasefire has gone into effect, aid still is not flowing into Gaza in anywhere near the quantities needed.
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Families struggling with shortages of food, water and medicine are living in tents just meters from the barbed-wire fence separating them from Egypt. “The situation we are enduring in Rafah is horrific and getting worse every day.
Egypt has already condemned Israel’s move to push Palestinians southward in the enclave, suggesting it is part of a plan to expel Gazans and that it would spell the end of the Palestinian cause. Egypt began boosting its security presence at its border with Gaza as a “precautionary” measure ahead of the expected Israeli ground operation, Egyptian security officials told CNN.
Gaza Strip: Key Facts
Gaza has a population of about 2.3 million people living in five governorates: North Gaza, Gaza City, Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah. Bordered by Israel and Egypt on the Mediterranean coast, the strip is about 365 square kilometres (141sq miles). At only 41km (25 miles) long, it can take less than an hour to drive from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanoon in the north.
About 80% of Gaza’s population were refugees before the war began. They lived in eight refugee camps - Beach camp, Bureij camp, Deir Al Balah camp, Jabalia camp, Khan Younis camp, Maghazi camp, Nuseirat camp and Rafah camp.
Here's a table summarizing key data about the Gaza Strip:
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Population | Approximately 2.3 million |
| Area | 365 square kilometers (141 sq miles) |
| Length | 41 km (25 miles) |
| Governorates | North Gaza, Gaza City, Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis, Rafah |
| Refugee Camps | Beach, Bureij, Deir Al Balah, Jabalia, Khan Younis, Maghazi, Nuseirat, Rafah |
Egypt's Security Measures
In February 2020, Egypt began building a new 3-kilometre (2-mile) concrete wall along its border with the Gaza Strip, from Gaza's southeastern tip at Kerem Shalom (Karam Abu Salem) to the Rafah border crossing. The new wall is in addition to the old wall, and will not be more than 8 m (30 feet) from the old one. Both walls are within Egyptian territory.
In June 2015, Egypt completed its digging of a ditch at the Rafah Crossing Point, 20 meters wide by 10 meters deep. It is located two kilometres from the border with Gaza outside of Rafah City and is part of the enlarged buffer zone.
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