The Israeli occupation has inflicted collective starvation on 2 million displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli military controls all border crossings into Gaza and does not allow aid to enter. Exit and entry into Gaza by sea or air is entirely prohibited; Palestinians are not even allowed to fish along Gaza’s shore.

The consequences are appalling: “After four months of a near-total Israeli siege,” The Washington Post reported in July,”Gaza’s few remaining hospitals now have wards for the growing number of malnourished children whose tiny bodies are just the width of their bones.”

As Israel continues its siege, international observers have been closely watching Egypt, especially as hundreds of trucks full of aid remain at a standstill along its border with Gaza. The Rafah crossing was effectively Gaza’s only direct outlet to the external world until Israel seized it in May 2024.

Egypt’s control of the border was gained through the 1979 treaty that came out of the Camp David Accords,which returned control of the Sinai peninsula to Egypt and normalized the country’s relations with Israel. But Israel stationed its forces along the Palestinian side of the Rafah borders in May 2024 when it seized the Philadelphi Corridor established as a 100-meter buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border under the Accords. By taking control of the corridor, the Israeli military has made Egypt’s control of the Rafah crossing meaningless while also violating the 1979 peace treaty.

Thanks to both its terrible human rights records and its authoritarianism, the Egyptian regime has been viewed with distrust by activists ever since it took power through a military coup in 2013. The regime constantly detains Egyptian activists who protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza; it also detained and deported international solidarity activists who attempted in June to cross the border and end the siege is Gaza.

International Response and Solidarity

“Gaza’s few remaining hospitals now have wards for the growing number of malnourished children whose tiny bodies are just the width of their bones.”

Despite the dire circumstances, global solidarity movements are gaining momentum. Calls for accountability and justice for Palestinians are growing louder, influencing international policy. Recent announcements by the French and British governments of their intention to recognize a Palestinian state reflect this global shift.

However, Palestinian critics and their allies argue that recognizing a Palestinian state without sanctioning Israel and committing to reparations remains a symbolic act. Nonetheless, even this gesture is a product of global solidarity actions and campaigns. Palestinian liberation and an end to the crisis in Gaza will require the continuation and escalation of this solidarity across the globe.