While Israel is doing its utmost to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, Egypt continues to tighten its stranglehold on its side of the Rafah border crossing.

According to Arutz Sheva, a senior Egyptian official on Monday denied recent speculation on an Egyptian agreement to move the Rafah crossing from its current location or to build a new crossing near Kerem Shalom.

Furthermore, Egypt is not discussing the possibility of Israel supervising the Rafah crossing, and it is still adhering to its position that the IDF must withdraw fully from the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing. When Israel’s military IDF took over Gaza’s Philadelphi corridor in May they discovered secret tunnels connecting to Egypt which were used to smuggle thousands of weapons and rockets.

Egypt, the only country aside from Israel that has a border with Gaza, has largely rebuffed pressure to accept Arab refugees trying to escape Hamas’ genocidal war.  Reports have indicated that Israeli officials have tried to lobby international support to compel Egypt to accept refugees from Gaza with no success.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has repeatedly refused to help fellow Arabs by denying crossing into Sinai despite his public outcry over Israel’s war of self-defense. In November, Sissi infamously called the Rafah Crossing a “red line” that if crossed would “liquidate the Palestinian cause.”