Egypt: Developments in Rafah portend dire repercussions. Sameh Shukri: Contacts are continuing to establish a framework that allows for a truce.
Two Egyptian security sources said that Cairo sent about 40 tanks and armored personnel carriers to northeastern Sinai in the past two weeks. Egyptian forces were deployed before Israel expanded its military operations to include the city of Rafah (south of Gaza), to which most of the Gaza Strip's residents were displaced. About 1,400,000 Palestinians currently live there, after the occupation army approved a military operation there yesterday.