Egypt rejects Israeli "offer" for an exit only Rafah checkpoint in Gaza

3 December 2025

Egypt has rejected an Israeli "offer" for opening for exit only the Rafah checkpoint in Gaza.

According to the Egyptian State Information Service, Egyptian authorities refuted on Wednesday afternoon reports that Israel claims it will open the Rafah crossing, the only lifeline for Gaza to the outside world, but only for those wishing to leave the besieged coastal enclave.

Citing an Egyptian official, the service stated that ''any agreement to open the crossing will cover both entry and exit, in line with US President Donald Trump's plan for humanitarian and political arrangements following the ceasefire.''

Cairo reaffirmed its adherence to the plan and UN Security Council Resolution 2803, including the right of return for Palestinians and maintaining two-way operations at the crossing.

Earlier in the day, Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced that the Rafah crossing would reopen ''within the next few days,'' marking the first such move since February 2025. According to the statement, departures would require prior Israeli security approval and would follow mechanisms previously implemented under EU supervision.

Notably, the statement made no mention of the entry of humanitarian aid, which continues to flow through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

A Palestinian official also echoed the Egyptian denial of Israel's claim.

Speaking to The New Arab, the official, who preferred to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue, said, "Neither the Palestinian Authority nor the bodies authorised to manage the crossing have received any formal notification regarding reopening arrangements."

"What Israel has announced bears no relation to reality, and there are no signs on the ground that the crossing will actually open in the near future," he added. According to the official, the Israeli statement appears mainly symbolic, aimed at presenting a positive image to domestic or international audiences rather than addressing the urgent needs of Gaza's residents.

"The citizens of the Strip continue to live under extreme hardship due to the ongoing siege. Any unilateral announcement, not coordinated officially and within international frameworks, will provide no tangible benefit," the official stressed.

He also warned that Israel could be using such declarations as a form of psychological pressure, attempting to frame Egypt as obstructive, while Cairo maintains its commitment to international agreements.

''Egypt cannot accept unilateral steps that displace Palestinians or undermine their right of return,'' the official said, emphasising that the Palestinian Authority is in continuous contact with the European Union and the United Nations to ensure any reopening is conducted safely and in accordance with prior agreements.

A European Union official, who requested anonymity and is familiar with the matter, told TNA that the EU has received no official notification from Israel regarding new arrangements, stressing that "no changes exist beyond the January agreements, and we await Israel's formal approval for crossing operations under the Trump plan."

The announced agreements stress that no Palestinians will be forced to leave Gaza. Those who choose to travel will have the right to return, while humanitarian aid will continue through UN agencies, the International Red Cross and Crescent, and other independent organisations.

Reopening the crossing will follow mechanisms jointly supervised by the EU and the Palestinian Authority to ensure oversight and transparency, according to the EU official.

The to-and-fro of claims and denials occurs as Gaza faces a worsening humanitarian crisis, after two years of an Israeli genocide. UN agencies report persistent shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies, compounding the suffering of thousands of Palestinian families living under an Israeli siege.

source: commonspace.eu with The New Arab (London).

photo: Rafah Checkpoint in Gaza

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Monday Commentary: PEACE IN OUR TIME?

19 October 2026

Making peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan was never going to be simple, nor easy, nor quick. It is taking time, writes Dennis Sammut in this Monday Commentary. “There is a sense of realism coming from the leaders of the two countries – President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and prime minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, that frankly, is necessary and welcome”, he writes. At a time when conflicts are raging all over the world – from Ukraine to the Gulf, from Africa to South Asia, the prospect that Armenia and Azerbaijan had finally, after decades of conflict that left thousands of dead and many more displaced, decided on embarking on a journey of peace was welcomed. Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan can be top-down up to a point. Both leaders have spent political capital preparing for a peace deal. But both are aware that their people are not ready for peace yet. In fact, in Armenia, most of the elite are negative toward a peace deal with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan needs time to persuade his countryfolk. That is why 2031 is realistic. Ilham Aliyev runs a tighter shop, but he is also not immune to public opinion. Every time someone hits a landmine in Karabakh, which unfortunately happens often, peace comes into question. Which is why Aliyev chooses to sound hardline, more often than not. In pursuing the peace agenda, both Aliyev and Pashinyan need to proceed cautiously. But they are right in making peace the central issue in their agenda. It is the main issue, and the one that will define them in history. So forward, cautiously but resolutely! In pursuing the peace agenda, Aliyev and Pashinyan need to be supported clearly and unambiguously. There are too many people in Baku and Yerevan who are sitting on the sides, waiting. The international community is not doing enough. It is time to be counted. Otherwise, the spoilers will win, and the region will go back to its bad habits. (Click the image to read the full commentary).

Dennis Sammut

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Armenian prime minister opens first UK-Armenia Business Forum

13 November 2026

Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, opened the "Armenia–United Kingdom Business Forum 2026," which is being held in Yerevan for the first time. The Prime Minister Pashinyan delivered a speech and welcomed the attendees, emphasizing that holding the forum is a logical step following the signing of the memorandum establishing a strategic partnership between Armenia and the United Kingdom this May: "After establishing such a partnership, the primary question that arises for governments is: how do we turn that political will, expressed through adopted documents, into reality? And the most effective way to solve this problem is to make the political substance discussed between governments a part of everyday life. Conferences like this serve precisely that purpose: to fill the space opened up by governments with real life''. Turning to the economy and business, Nikol Pashinyan noted that experience shows that individuals unconstrained by the specific scope of governmental or other official duties are better at identifying opportunities and prospects. In this context, the country's leader expressed hope that the ideas raised during the conference discussions would advance to the next stage of development and materialize into concrete agreements. ''Overall, it is evident that the Republic of Armenia and our region are undergoing a transformation linked to the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the developments stemming from it. We are currently working on a daily basis to launch the implementation of the TRIPP project on the ground—an initiative that will undoubtedly serve as a cornerstone for transforming the economic landscape not only of the Republic of Armenia but of the entire region. It is already the case, as we are currently witnessing a certain level of investment-related activity surrounding Armenia; it is clear that this project will, in turn, generate new projects, and the investment appeal of Armenia and our region will strengthen," the Prime Minister said, adding that in the near future, alongside developments in the TRIPP project, the opening of the Armenia-Türkiye border is expected, as well as the opening of railway connections between Armenia and Azerbaijan and between Armenia and Türkiye. (Click image to read more),

Last week I visited Baku, Azerbaijan. My visit was relatively short, but very intensive, and had many meetings with stakeholders and colleagues. When I arrived in Baku first time in 1996, Azerbaijan was a different country: weak, poor, and shaken by defeat in war. For thirty year the Karabakh issue dominated the agenda: the political agenda but also the popular mindset. Now, thirty years later, Azerbaijan has returned to Karabakh, and peace with Armenia is on the horizon. It is a new era for Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, for the South Caucasus, but also for Europe. But we cannot be complacent: the Peace agreement has been initialed but not signed; borders remain closed; TRIPP is ambitious but remains an idea; and there are spoilers who want to turn the clock back. We must not allow them, and in this Europe and Azerbaijan must work together. Europe’ vanguard organization is the European Union – it is a free union of 27 member states; it is a strong global economic force, and increasingly a diplomatic and military force too. But it remains “work in progress” and can often appear dysfunctional. It often lacks collective and institutional memory. In its dealings with Azerbaijan the EU has made many mistakes – not least opening the delegation here late – in 2008. It sometimes appears condescending. Some utterances from the European Parliament and from some quarters in some member states are not understandable even for me. They irritate the Azerbaijanis, but serve no other purpose But Azerbaijan has also not handled relations with the EU well. It has failed to respond when the hand of friendship reached out; and it confused irritating actions, sometimes by well-meaning people; sometimes by outright spoilers, with strategic action. In short, EU-Azerbaijan relations have suffered from a lack of proper dialogue. This dialogue must be frank, honest and multi-faceted involving different segments of society on both sides. Is Azerbaijan Europe? When Azerbaijan applied to join the Council of Europe in the 1990s, there were some who opposed, saying this was not Europe. I was one of the people who argued that Armenia and Azerbaijan may be on the periphery of the continent geographically, but were European in essence. Certainly their elites. During the discussion on 4 September in Baku, my friend Farhad Mammedov, mentioned that Azerbaijan is not interested in joining the EU, and was now close to the Central Asian countries in the 5 plus 1 format. Neither things mean that Azerbaijan is not Europe. There are several European countries that are not in the EU, and do not want to be, for example Norway and Switzerland. Iceland has recently voted to stay out of the EU. The UK was a member and left. Europe is bigger than the EU, and the holding of the European Political Community summit in Baku in 2027 proves that. Despite all the rhetoric, I never heard the president of Azerbaijan saying that Azerbaijan is not Europe, nor have I heard any European president say it either. Not wanting to join the EU and forging close relations with neighbouring regions does not make Azerbaijan any less European. It is only logical that when Europeans talk to Azerbaijan they talk like family. The conversation is often frank. It must also be honest, and Europeans need always to remember this too. A frank, honest and multi-faceted dialogue A frank, honest and multifaceted dialogue will contribute to relations between Azerbaijan and the rest of Europe: it will avoid misperception, which unfortunately is very common on both sides; it will provide a forum where problems can be discussed and resolved, and it will increase mutual trust, so that together common problems can be addressed. (click image to read the full Monday Commentary)

Dennis Sammut

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Monday Commentary: “The barren rocks of Aden” and “These lands of Yemen are so ruthless”

21 September 2026

There are two early 20th-century tunes that mark foreign attempts to occupy and “pacify” Yemen. The Scottish tune “The barren rocks of Aden” marks the mobilisation of Highland soldiers, enlisted to be deployed to the Yemeni port of Aden, that in 1837 became the last colony to be incorporated into the British Empire. The tune talks of the harshness of the terrain, but is celebratory, It was even played as a farewell tune to Sir William Luce at the parade in Sharjah celebrating his end as “British Viceroy” in the Middle East in 1966. The second tune is an Anatolian lament. As Ilker Sezer reminded us this weekend, in his weekly feature on “Turkiye Today”, it “mourns the tragic fate of Ottoman soldiers dispatched to the harsh, remote deserts of Yemen during the fall of the empire, young men who marched away from their villages and never returned home. Most of their names, and numbers, were never recorded. Yet, their fate left a mark on the Turkish psyche.” Subsequent invaders have discovered that Yemen is a grave that cannot be overcome by the strength of modern technology, and that whilst Yemeni society is splintered and divided, building a reliable alliance with Yemeni factions is difficult. These are the harsh lessons facing Saudi Arabia, as the Kingdom faces its biggest challenge in its modern history. The leadership of the Kingdom now has to respond decisively. At stake is their very credibility. This is likely to be a long and messy conflict. Saudi military objectives need to be focused: to box in the Houthis rather than destroy them. This is likely to include: (a) regaining territory lost on the Red Sea coast; (b) control over Bab el Mandeb Strait; (c) some kind of cordon sanitaire on the Saudi-Yemeni border; and if things go well (d) the capture of Sanaa. All this would not eliminate the Houthi problem, but it will contain it. In the end the Saudis will have to continue managing Yemen with a mixture of carrot and stick. For the moment, the stick is likely, but the carrot cannot be forgotten either. (click the image to read the Monday Commentary in full)

Dennis Sammut

Egypt rejects Israeli "offer" for an exit only Rafah checkpoint in Gaza

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Monday Commentary: PEACE IN OUR TIME?

Armenian prime minister opens first UK-Armenia Business Forum

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Monday Commentary: European-Azerbaijan relations need an intensive and multifaceted dialogue that is frank and honest

Monday Commentary: “The barren rocks of Aden” and “These lands of Yemen are so ruthless”