Israel planning military operation along Gaza-Egypt crossing: Report

Israel has informed Cairo it plans to launch a military operation to retake control of the crossing area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, according to sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).  

Citing Israeli and Egyptian officials, the WSJ said Israel is expected to take over the Rafah crossing and station forces along the Philadelphi Corridor, which separates Egypt and Gaza. 

Israeli officials told the WSJ that the operation had not received the go-ahead from Israeli leaders and depends on talks with the Egyptian government as Cairo works to broker a new hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. 

"Israel does not want to be responsible for Gaza in the long term, but the question is how do you make sure that Gaza stays demilitarized?" a senior Israeli military official told the WSJ. "It's a real dilemma. The only way to control a geographic area is to control what's going in and out." 

WSJ added that Egyptian officials rejected Israeli proposals to conduct joint patrols on the Egyptian side of the border, saying it was working to install barriers and increase surveillance in the area.