One word has been missing from the Egyptian-sponsored indirect Palestinian-Israeli talks and the various leaks about them: Rafah. The town along the Gaza-Egyptian border has become synonymous with some of the worst examples of Arabs' indirect contribution to the illegal siege on the Gaza Strip.

To be fair, Rafah is only one of six land crossings between Gaza and the rest of the world. All the others are controlled by Israel. Rafah was created as a passenger-only crossing, but the reasons for prohibiting the movement of goods there have to do with the larger Palestinian-Israeli conflict. If Rafah becomes an international border crossing for the movement of goods as well as people, it would weaken the pressure on Israel to end its occupation of Gaza and allow the movement of goods between Gaza and the West Bank.

One of the main features of state sovereignty is the ability to manage customs for incoming goods. Even if Gazans were able to freely move goods in and out through Egypt, it would not be allowed to do the same in regard to Israel or the occupied West Bank because of the significant differences in the tax and customs code. At present, as a result of the 1994 Paris Protocol, Israel collects customs fees on behalf of the Palestinians and delivers them to the Ramallah-based government.

When the Gaza-Egyptian tunnels were in operation, this issue was irrelevant. With the tough anti-tunnel policies of the Abdel Fattah al-Sisi government, however, the legal transfer and assessment of customs on goods entering Gaza must now be readdressed.