	Issue Overview

Since Israel unilaterally dismantled its settlements and withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, it has repeatedly expressed concern over the security of the Egypt-Gaza border. Israel claims that ongoing smuggling of sophisticated weaponry into the Gaza Strip could presumably shift the balance of power in Hamas's favor. Israel also asserts that Egypt is not adequately sealing its side of the border, citing the recent breakthrough of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who rushed into Egypt on January 23, 2008. Egypt claims that Israel has not only exaggerated the threat posed by weapons smuggling, but is deliberately acting to "sabotage" U.S.-Egyptian relations by demanding that the United States condition its annual $1.3 billion in military assistance on Egypt's efforts to thwart smuggling. Section 690 of P.L. 110-161 , the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, withholds the obligation of $100 million in Foreign Military Financing until the Secretary of State certifies, among other things, that Egypt has taken concrete steps to "detect and destroy the smuggling network and tunnels that lead from Egypt to Gaza." The United States, which occasionally is thrust into the middle of disputes between Israel and Egypt, has attempted to broker a solution to the smuggling problem which is amenable to all parties. As a result, the U.S. government has offered to allocate $23 million of Egypt's annual Foreign Military Financing (FMF) toward the procurement of more advanced detection equipment, such as censors and remote-controlled robotic devices. Although both Israel and Egypt have, at times, tried to downplay recent tensions over the border, there is some concern that Hamas's takeover of Gaza will have negative long term repercussions for the Israeli-Egyptian relationship, a relationship that has been largely considered a success for U.S. Middle Eastern diplomacy for over three decades.
Since Israel unilaterally dismantled its settlements and withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, it has repeatedly expressed concern over the security of the Egypt-Gaza border. Israel claims that ongoing smuggling of sophisticated weaponry into the Gaza Strip could dramatically strengthen the military capabilities of Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Israel also charges that Egypt is not adequately sealing its side of the border, citing the recent breakthrough of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who rushed into Egypt on January 23, 2008 and remained for several days.
Egypt claims that Israel has not only exaggerated the threat posed by weapons smuggling, but is deliberately acting to "sabotage" U.S.-Egyptian relations by demanding that the United States condition its annual $1.3 billion in military assistance on Egypt's efforts to thwart smuggling. Section 690 of P.L. 110-161, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, withholds the obligation of $100 million in Foreign Military Financing for Egypt until the Secretary of State certifies, among other things, that Egypt has taken concrete steps to "detect and destroy the smuggling network and tunnels that lead from Egypt to Gaza."
The United States, which occasionally is thrust into the middle of disputes between Israel and Egypt, has attempted to broker a solution to the smuggling problem which is amenable to all parties. The U.S. government has offered to allocate $23 million of Egypt's annual military aid toward the procurement of more advanced detection equipment, such as censors and remote-controlled robotic devices. Although both Israel and Egypt have, at times, tried to downplay recent tensions over the border, there is some concern that Hamas's takeover of Gaza will have negative long-term repercussions for the Israeli-Egyptian relationship, a relationship that has been largely considered a success for U.S. Middle Eastern diplomacy for over three decades.
This report will be updated as events warrant. For more information on Israel, Egypt, and Hamas, see CRS Report RL33476, Israel: Background and Relations with the United States; CRS Report RL33530, Israeli-Arab Negotiations: Background, Conflicts, and U.S. Policy; and CRS Report RL33003, Egypt: Background and U.S. Relations.