Why aren't Egypt more helpful?

[Jelllytot]

Given there are two exits out of Gaza, one into Israel and one into Egypt, why isn't Egypt more helpful to Gazans?

For example, why didn't they just let the aid in? The trucks were just sat at the border for days.
Or also, why don't they just allow them to escape/exit via their border? I read it's quite complex leaving via the Rafah border ie. One would have to apply weeks ahead and pay a substantial amount to use that crossing. Why do they make it so hard to leave? Is there an agreement between Egypt and Israel to keep Gazans within the borders?

Don't know if it was in response to the temporary trip into the Sinai but someone in Egypt counter-suggested that Israel move the inhabitants of Gaza temporarily into the Negev desert out of harms way

Not what you'd call serious stuff is it

You know the border was open yesterday and a small amount of aid was delivered? Not clear what happened to the 500+ foreign passport holders who had been waiting at the border since Monday - did they manage to leave?

Or Isreal could stop bombing Palestine and let aid in?

It could. But it would then lose any hope of getting the hostages - including small children - back and it would be giving Hamas ample space and time to re-weaponise and commit the same atrocities again.

If you have a terrorist organisation running a country, embedded in its population, committed to your wholesale destruction and on your border, it’s not clear to me what a good option is. Maybe there were better options a few decades ago but no one has a time machine.

I don't know why important questions raised politely and in good faith are met with such hostility. I consider myself reasonably well informed about world affairs but I have learned things from the answers here. I didn't - for example - appreciate that Jordan hasn't given Palestinians full citizenship. Thank you to everyone who replied to the OP.

No need

Everyone’s education has to being somewhere.

It was Israel blocking the aid not Egypt.

They don’t want to give refuge to Hamas. They’ve had enough shit to deal with over the last few years with terrorists and Jihadis.

Because nobody wants a million refugees entering their country.

Closing all means of escape, turning off water, electricity and blocking food and medical supplies, and then bombing the crap out of the trapped civilian population should never have been an option and certainly wasn’t a “good option”.

Having an inquiring mind and asking questions is definitely a sign of intelligence!
Throwing around pointless insults on the other hand...

You're judging them by your own standards - why should they let them in?

You're making the mistake of thinking that the concept of charity for example, is a given. It is not. Witness the lethargy exhibited by multiple middle eastern nations over the years in response to this and other crises.

The ethnocentric views of many westerners can be very wearying. Most have little apparent grasp of the issues at play or the actual history of the wider area (pre 1948). This is an existential struggle for Israelis - against people who want to exterminate them.

Egypt doesn’t want a large number of refugees but it also doesn’t want the Palestinian's driven from Gaza. You know there’s no way Israel will just let them back in.
Also Egypt does not want anything to do with Hamas as they will just cause trouble. I think that’s the main reason they blocked off their own border with Gaza in the first place.
As for aid - Israel would need to co-operate with the process (so those delivering it can be sure that Israel will not accidentally bomb them) and they aren’t.

Blimey Hermittrismegistus, you wake up on the wrong side of bed or something?

Just FYI - giving to charity is one of the central tenets of Islam

In Addition to the many reasons above - Egypt has enough trouble keeping its own citizens fed. It has to heavily subsidise grain prices to avoid social upheaval. Gazan would be more mouths to feed at a time when food inflation is already a huge problem.

It’s a well trodden path that failure to feed a population leads to an uprising.

@Efacsen they may also take the view they charity begins at home. Religion does not negate state borders, historical grievances or tribal differences.

Apparently.

This is only my opinion but I was basically wondering about it all because, yes, Israel is doing something atrocious, but given Egypt is the gatekeeper of the border I'd have thought more people might say something about them (like they are with Israel, but maybe to a lesser extent).

This is only my opinion but I was basically wondering about it all because, yes, Israel is doing something atrocious, but given Egypt is the gatekeeper of the border I'd have thought more people might say something about them (like they are with Israel, but maybe to a lesser extent).

I think their hands are tied in some ways. Certainly the concern about Hamas getting a foothold is valid even if the other reasons are debatable.

You've been told some of the reasons. But one of the main ones is that Egypt, and Jordan, and no doubt the other Arab states, believe Israel wants the Gazans out to take that territory. They believe if they let the Gazans out Israel will stop them ever going back. Then Israel would have won, in their view.

They'd also end up like Lebanon, with Hamas or Hezbollah or whoever the latest group would be attacking Israel now from within Egyptian borders, with the Egyptian government being held responsible for that.

Hamas are an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt, and their former President from that party is currently languishing in jail.

The Egyptian government does not want massive Gazan refugee camps in the Sinai as these would inevitably be controlled by Hamas, allowing them to establish a foothold in the region. Egypt sees this as a massive security threat to the stability of their regime.

They also fear that if they accept 2 million refugees from Gaza, Israel, having reoccupied the Gaza Strip, won’t allow them to return, so they’ll be stuck with them permanently - Egypt also sees this prospect as something that would be massively destabilising to their security.

The one thing not mentioned yet is that there are 300000 refugees already in Egypt, mostly from Syria.
So that is a big demand on infrastructure.

It’s certainly an option that might conflict with their stated aim of getting their hostages back.

One thing I heard is that Egyptians don't want attacks to Israel to be made on their soil...no idea how true or not that is.