Unraveling Enigma: Egyptian-Israeli Border Clashes and the Intrigue of Three Possible Scenarios
watan-The Egyptian-Israeli border, specifically at the “Al-Ouja” crossing between Egypt and the occupied Palestinian territories, witnessed a suspicious event, marked by multiple conflicting narratives that evolved into a single Egyptian-Israeli account claiming clashes with drug smugglers at the border.
Amid the brutal Israeli war on the besieged Gaza Strip, suspicions about the accuracy of the narrative increased. Egyptian media personality Osama Gawish anticipates three scenarios regarding the incident, reacting to the various responses circulating about the situation, as reported by the (Watan) news outlet.
Gawish appeared in a video posted on his official IX account, recounting the events and the conflicting narratives that began with the Israeli occupation army releasing a statement claiming to have thwarted an attempt by 20 suspects, including armed individuals, to infiltrate near the Al-Ouja crossing. The occupation forces asserted that they dealt with the armed individuals.
The second narrative, according to the Egyptian media personality, emerged minutes later when Israeli media published a single account stating that a group of militants had infiltrated the occupied Palestinian territories from Egypt, resulting in clashes and reports of injuries.
ايه اللي بيحصل عالحدود المصرية؟
تضارب في الروايات ثم اتفاق على رواية التهريب
مين يملك جرأة التهريب في توقيت فيه استنفار أمني وعسكري زي ده؟
عملية جديدة على غرار الجندي المصري محمد صلاح؟
أم محاولة تهريب مخدرات زي ما قالت المصادر الرسمية المصرية؟
ايه علاقة محور فلادلفيا؟👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/c9ZCoFYMvu
— Osama Gaweesh (@osgaweesh) January 15, 2024
Contradictions and Shifts in Narratives
Shortly after, “Cairo News,” the official Egyptian media source, covered the incident, quoting statements from an official source claiming that these individuals were “drug smugglers” and that the Egyptian army had arrested six of them.
What’s peculiar is the transformation of the Israeli narrative through the Israeli occupation army’s media and the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, altering their statements to claim that there were 20 armed individuals engaged in clashes, alleging the injury of an Israeli soldier without providing any details about him. They claimed that the goal was drug smuggling.
According to Gawish, the first narrative presented it one way, the second narrative presented it another way, and then the Egyptian and Israeli sides agreed on a narrative involving drug smuggling.
Osama Gawish raised several questions, beginning with asking, “Who would be foolish enough to attempt drug smuggling at such a sensitive time when Israel is attacking and besieging Gaza, conducting a brutal military campaign against it?”
The second question, according to the Egyptian journalist, is related to the Al-Ouja crossing where the skirmishes and attacks occurred, which is distant from the Rafah crossing by 40 kilometers. It is under Israeli military and security alertness, and all aid goes through inspection at this crossing before heading to Rafah. Therefore, the story seems illogical according to Gawish.
He presented three scenarios related to this, stating that the first is that they are indeed drug smugglers, while the second involves a preparation for a conspiracy to allow the Israeli occupation to enter the Philadelphi Corridor and control it with an Egyptian request. This scenario, according to the Egyptian journalist, is a very naive conspiracy theory that no one believes.
