Egypt steps up Gaza role after brokering 2021 truce
Egypt flags and billboards praising Al Sissi have sprung up across the territory
Since mediating a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas group last year, Egypt has sent crews to clear rubble and is promising to build vast new apartment complexes. Egyptian flags and billboards praising President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi have since sprung up across Gaza.
The 11-day Gaza war last May “allowed Egypt to once again market itself as an indispensable security partner for Israel in the region, which in turn makes it an indispensable security partner for the US,” said Hafsa Halawa, an expert on Egypt at the Middle East Institute, a Washington think-tank.
After negotiating the ceasefire that ended the Gaza war, Egypt pledged $500 million to rebuild the territory and sent work crews to remove rubble.
Egypt is now subsidising the construction of three towns that are to house some 300,000 residents, according to Naji Sarhan, the deputy director of the Hamas-run Housing Ministry. Work is also under way to upgrade Gaza’s main coastal road. Sarhan said the projects will take a year and a half to complete.
Employment potential
Alaa Al Arraj, of the Palestinian contractors’ union, said nine Palestinian companies will take part in the Egyptian projects, which would generate some 16,000 much-needed jobs in the impoverished territory.
The Egyptian presence is palpable. Nearly every week, Egyptian delegations visit Gaza to inspect the work. They have also opened an office at a Gaza City hotel for permanent technical representatives.
Egyptian flags and banners of Egyptian companies flutter atop bulldozers, trucks and utility poles. Dozens of Egyptian workers have arrived, sleeping at a makeshift hostel in a Gaza City school.
Five days a week, Egyptian trucks filled with construction materials flow into Gaza through the Rafah crossing.
Suhail Saqqa, a Gaza contractor involved in the reconstruction, said the steady flow of Egyptian materials is critical. “The goods are not restricted by Israeli crossings,,” he said.
The growing Egyptian role gives Cairo a powerful tool to enforce Hamas’ compliance with the truce.