According to the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Israeli officials recently sent letters to United States leaders and the European Union protesting the Egyptian government’s decision to allow 1,200 Arabs into Gaza without a security check. Israel reportedly requested US approval to retake the Rafiah crossing between Egypt and Gaza and put international monitors in charge of traffic in the area.
The Rafiah crossing was controlled by international monitors after the IDF withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but the monitors fled during the Hamas takeover of Gaza last year. Israeli officials have expressed concern that groups entering Gaza from Egypt are not checked by security officers, and may be senior terrorists smuggling cash for Hamas.