Cairo’s new deal

The Egyptian-Palestinian relationship has been strained recently, but this trial by fire may forge stronger ties in the medium term. On August 6 gunmen attacked an Egyptian army checkpoint on the Sinai Peninsula border with Israel, just south of Gaza. Sixteen soldiers and an unknown number of assailants died in the initial clash. The surviving assailants dashed across the border where they were promptly killed by the Israeli army. The brutality of the strike — the soldiers were preparing to break their day-long Ramadan fast when they were attacked — shocked both Egyptians and Palestinians. Swift condemnations came from all sides as the search for additional assailants and their enablers began in the Sinai and among the Palestinians in Gaza. The Egyptians also sealed the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, casting a pall on previous optimistic signs from the new Egyptian leadership regarding their intention to ease the