Regulate the borders

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A legal and political settlement for a smooth and systematic operation of the Rafah Crossing Point (RCP) must be promptly reached. The RCP is the only exit for the residents of Gaza away from the security harassment of Israeli occupation forces and as such it has to be more open than closed rather than the current mostly closed and rarely opened.

The RCP operation has always been a problem. The famous 2005 borders agreement that the US sponsored between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), with the support of the European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) for Rafah was never so effective in regulating the processing of individuals in and out of Gaza due to endless Israeli security allegations that forced the crossing closed. Since the Hamas take-over of Gaza and the effective elimination of the PA from the Strip in June 2007, Israel -- and for that matter the PA -- has refused to facilitate the operation of the RCP. Egypt has been forced to deal with the problem by unilaterally opening the crossing point once in a while to allow Palestinian citizens with pressing needs to exit or enter Gaza. In January this year, Egypt tolerated a massive forced Palestinian inundation through the RCP. Still, Egypt has not and cannot agree to the recurrent demands of Hamas to jointly operate the RCP away from the engagement of the PA or to fully take the responsibility of operating the crossing unilaterally because that would amount to an implicit Egyptian consent to take effective responsibility for the explosive Gaza Strip.

What is needed now is a sensible, legally feasible and politically sensitive agreement to allow for the smooth operation of the RCP. Hamas should accept that as much as it will not be pushed aside by the PA, it too cannot push the PA aside. Hamas needs to realise that the US, the EU, Egypt and certainly Israel will not overlook the PA and conclude an RCP agreement with it. The sooner Hamas leaders come to this conclusion the easier it would be for them to consider a compromise.

For its part, Egypt would then have to help find a solution to the RCP crisis. Egyptian diplomacy can certainly persuade Hamas and the PA to agree on a list of an accepted Palestinian Borders Mission that can be stationed at the RCP under the supervision of Hamas security and with the cooperation of the EUBAM. Egyptian diplomacy can also persuade the US -- before this administration exits -- and Israel to agree to a deal that involves the cooperation of Hamas and the PA. The EU that talks much of a need to have a political, and not just economic, role in the Palestinian-Israeli file needs to pressure both Washington and Tel Aviv to show flexibility on this front.

The images of Palestinians jammed at the RCP gates earlier this week, taking advantage of a three-day exceptional Egyptian operation, are unkind, to say the least. Palestinians who are suffering the endless humiliation of occupation and economic starvation deserve a more dignified treatment at the RCP. For this to happen their leaders, both in Hamas and Fatah, need to show political realism. Fatah and Hamas cannot exclude one another; this is a fact. And Hamas cannot completely discard the ultimate influence of Israel on the RCP because Hamas has removed the PA but did not liberate Gaza. This, too, is a fact. And Egypt cannot overlook its political and moral responsibility towards Gaza -- certainly another fact of life.