CAIRO: Egypt has put forward a list of requests to the U.S. in talks over Gaza, including security and military financing, according to officials from Egypt, Israel and U.S.
Egypt in recent months has asked the U.S. to consider supplying additional tranches of financial and military assistance to secure the border with Gaza ahead of Israeli ground invasion of Rafah.
The Egyptian requests come as American officials engaged in talks with their counterparts in Qatar, Egypt and Israel to chalk out out a roadmap that will eventually stop fighting to allow the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza. As part of those discussions, Israel has said it will conduct a ground offensive in Rafah. According to Egyptian and American officials the Rafah invasion will ultimately happen.
Egyptian officials have opposed the idea, saying the offensive will force hundreds of thousands of Gazans to flee south of the border.
The additional finances and equipment Egypt requested will help its military to tackle a possible influx of Gazans towards its border.
A U.S. official said the Biden administration has accelerated negotiations with Egyptians in recent weeks amid mounting concerns about its border.
Some 1.5 million people of Gaza have fled to Rafah from other parts of the besieged enclave to avert the war. These people have no other place to go as Israel has stopped them from moving north.
In recent years, the U.S. has suspended hundreds of millions of dollars to Egypt over its human rights record.
In September it approved $235 million in assistance for Egypt but withheld an extra $85 million for the same reason. Egypt has asked the U.S. to review its policy and consider providing additional funding it to manage the fallout from the Rafah offensive.
