What is behind the visit of an Egyptian commander to the Gaza border, in the middle of the conflict with Israel?

The Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces inspected the security conditions at the Egypt-Gaza border, known as The Philadelphia CorridorThursday, as Israel demands to maintain control of the strategic area as it battles Hamas.

Lieutenant General Ahmad Fathy Khalifa “inspected security measures” during his visit to the Egyptian armed forces at the Rafah border crossing. He stressed his confidence in the armed forces at the border and their ability “not to give in to rumors and speeches aimed at harming the Egyptian state,” according to a statement from the Egyptian Defense Ministry.

Khalifa “stressed that the main mission of the armed forces is to preserve the country's borders in all strategic directions.”

Why now: The unexpected development comes after a week of heightened tensions over the Philadelphia Corridor. On Monday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that Israel must maintain a military presence in the corridor.

Netanyahu reiterated his statements on Wednesday, saying the Israeli military would not withdraw from the corridor before the second phase of a possible ceasefire agreement. Hamas has demanded a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, including the Philadelphia Corridor, throughout the ceasefire negotiations.

The initial ceasefire deal, proposed by President Joe Biden in May, included three phases, the first being a six-week period during which Israel would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and Israeli hostages would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The second phase was to be negotiated during the initial six-week ceasefire and included the release of all hostages and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The third and final phase was to focus on rebuilding the Gaza Strip.

Today, the American ceasefire negotiating team is struggling to put a new proposal on the table, following the killing of six hostages by Hamas and Netanyahu's position on the corridor.

Why it matters: The Philadelphia Corridor, which was created as a buffer zone in the 1978 Camp David Accords, has long been a point of contention between Egypt and Israel. In 2005, after Israel withdrew from Gaza, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority were tasked with policing the narrow strip of land. In 2007, Hamas took control of Gaza and the border. Israel took control of the Philadelphia Corridor in May and has since maintained its military presence in the area, claiming that Hamas uses it to smuggle weapons into Gaza.

Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Khalifa's visit was a response to recent Israeli statements about the Philadelphia corridor.

“I think this is clearly a response to all the talk about the Philadelphia Corridor and the idea that Egypt is incapable of securing the border,” he told Al-Monitor. “I feel like this is an attempt by Egypt to show that it is serious about securing the border and that it has done so, and that it is not the problem.”

According to Elgindy, the visit reflects Egyptian opposition to Israeli control of the border.

“I also think it's a way to underline Egyptian opposition to Israel's continued presence on the Gaza-Egypt border,” he said. “Egypt has said it would consider this a violation of its peace treaty with Israel and would not allow it.”

Learn more: Egypt is seeking to protect its key interests as it navigates instability on its border. It does not want a “porous border” with weapons and fighters coming and going because of the security situation in the Sinai Peninsula, nor an exodus of Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt, Elgindy said.

Egypt has been struggling with a Sinai uprising Fighters from the Islamic State, al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups fought for years. The conflict ended with an Egyptian military victory in early 2023, and a low-intensity insurgency has continued since then.

Days after the October 7 Hamas attack, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Gazans should “stay on their land.”

The Egyptian government is concerned about the situation on the border in the context of Khalifa's visit, due to the general public anger towards Israel over the war.

“They want to be able to assert Egyptian sovereignty. They don’t want to appear to be giving in to Israeli demands,” Elgindy said of the Egyptian position. “They need to project that vision domestically. It’s not a good idea if they feel like they’re being pushed around by Netanyahu.”

The Egyptian government has cracked down on anti-war protests in Gaza.