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Source: https://jcpa.org/article/israeli-presence-on-the-philadelphi-corridor-is-vital/
Israeli Presence on the Philadelphi Corridor Is Vital
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser - The Israeli military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt is essential to ensure that Hamas will face considerable difficulties in its expected efforts to reconstruct and resupply its terror enterprise in Gaza. The closure will hamper its ability to smuggle in weaponry, personnel, and even vehicles and funds from Egypt through the vast network of tunnels they constructed under the corridor, through the Rafah border crossing itself, and via other routes. After revealing and neutralizing all the tunnels, Israel will have to erect an underground barrier along the corridor similar to the one it built along the Gaza-Israel border. The IDF will have to be deployed along the corridor to ensure that the underground barrier, the aboveground wall, the monitoring of the Rafah crossing, and the other elements of the systems designed to prevent smuggling are functioning so that any infiltration attempt will be thwarted immediately. The chances that Egyptian, Arab, international forces or Palestinian Authority forces will effectively meet this challenge are paltry. This idea was tried in the past and failed miserably. There is no reason to believe that another time will be different. In light of this, there is no substitute for a physical Israeli presence along the corridor to prevent smuggling. Such a presence is also essential for additional strategic reasons. First is the need to shape a new reality in Gaza. If the overall military control that is needed to combat terror is to be in Israel's hands, Israel needs to maintain control of all of Gaza's borders, including the Philadelphi Corridor. Any other arrangement will make it almost impossible for the IDF to prevent the emergence of terror threats from Gaza. Second, lasting Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor is what will preclude Hamas control of the strategic passage. The ongoing physical change on the ground will constitute a message to Hamas, the other members of the Iranian axis, and the Palestinians, in general, that the Oct. 7 terror attack was a strategic error that significantly harmed the advancement of their goals, chief among them the elimination of Israel. Israeli deployment along Philadelphi can serve to make clear to the Iranians and Hizbullah that whoever launches a war against Israel pays a strategic price for it. The writer, Director, National Security and Middle East Affairs at the Jerusalem Center, is former head of the IDF Military Intelligence Research Division.