Why Egypt hasn't opened the Rafah border crossing from Gaza
Thousands of civilians desperate to flee Palestinian territory amid Israeli bombings
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt may be the only hope for anyone trying to get out of the Palestinian territory, which has been under Israeli siege and aerial bombardments since the militant group Hamas and carried out deadly attacks on Israeli communities on Oct. 7.
Thousands of civilians in Gaza have waited for days at the Rafah crossing — the only exit not controlled by Israel — even as the Israeli military has fired a series of airstrikes near the Gaza side of the border.
No one from Gaza has been allowed to cross into Egypt — including many Canadians and other foreign nationals waiting to leave. But the Canadian, U.S. and other governments are trying negotiate with Egypt and Israel to ensure their citizens can get out of the besieged enclave and that desperately needed humanitarian aid can be brought in.
Though Egypt has said it is prepared to allow truckloads of supplies into Gaza, experts say the Egyptian government may not be keen to open the border gates to a torrent of refugees — both because they would need support and could include Hamas militants.
Rafah has "always been a very contentious issue," among Israelis, Palestinians and Egyptians, said Contanza Musu, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
Musu says it's a huge challenge for any government to host a significant number of new refugees.
"You need to set up camps and those camps have to be provided with water, with sanitation and with health care, food and, eventually, children have to go to school," she told CBC News.
Egypt already hosts 300,000 UN-registered refugees from dozens of countries and has seen an additional 317,000 arrive since conflict broke out in its southern neighbour Sudan earlier this year, so the government may have concerns about hosting a large number of newly displaced people from Gaza for an "indefinite" period of time, Musu said.
It's estimated more than 100,000 Palestinians already live in Egypt with no legal status as citizens or refugees.
But Musu says there's another concern for Egypt — Hamas. The Egyptian government considers it a a terrorist organization and it's also an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed in Egypt.
Many Palestinians don't have proper travel documents, Musu says, making it difficult to verify identities and prevent Hamas fighters from hiding among fleeing civilians and then operating out of the Sinai Peninsula, where Egypt has fought other Islamist groups, including ISIS, for years.
"Allowing large numbers of Palestinians into their territory, Egypt's leaders fear, would strengthen the links between these extremist forces," Steven A. Cook, an Middle East policy expert with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), wrote in a post on the think-tank's website.
Blockade co-operation
Egypt and Israel have co-operated with one another strategically and economically, and the neighbouring countries and former adversaries also have an agreement about Gaza.
Since Hamas took control in Gaza in 2007, Egypt has helped enforce a blockade of the enclave and heavily restricted the flow of people and goods. Like Gaza's main crossings with Israel, restrictions have sometimes been eased, but not lifted, and travelers need security clearance and lengthy checks to pass.
In 2008, tens of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Sinai after Hamas blasted holes in border fortifications, prompting Egypt to commence building a stone and cement wall.
Egypt has acted as a mediator between Israel and Palestinian factions during past conflicts and periods of unrest. But in those situations it has also locked down the border, allowing aid to enter and medical evacuees to leave while preventing any large-scale movement of people.
Even as Israel pursues its heavy bombardment of Gaza in response to Hamas's assault, Egypt has shown no sign so far that its approach will change.
With files from Ellen Mauro, Mia Sheldon, Thomson Reuters and The Associated Press