Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh expressed on Monday his fear that Israel might transfer the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, after about 4 months of the ongoing war between the Israeli state and Hamas movement.

Shtayyeh said during a government session: "Israel is trying to transfer the Rafah crossing to another location".

This statement comes amid concerns among Palestinians and Egyptians, especially about possible Israeli attempts to push Palestinians residing in the Gaza Strip to leave the besieged area.

1.7 million Palestinians were displaced during the war, and 1.2 million of them live in the Rafah border area with Egypt, according to the United Nations.

Israel denies its intention to force the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to leave, but many officials there have called for opening the door for voluntary departure of Palestinians.

The Rafah crossing is the only gateway of the Gaza Strip to the outside, and it is currently used for the exit of residents of the Strip after exceptional permits approved by Israel, also with Palestinian and Egyptian approval.

Shtayyeh said: "The Rafah crossing is the Palestinian-Egyptian border gate, and it is a Palestinian-Egyptian matter. We have an agreement with the European police since 2005 to manage the crossing".

Shtayyeh was referring to the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

There are other crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel that are closed, including the Kerem Abu Salem crossing, through which commercial goods used to enter the Gaza Strip previously, and is sometimes used currently to bring aid into the besieged Strip.

Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian Initiative, told Agence France-Presse that Israel "is trying to close the Rafah crossing which is supposed to be under Egyptian, Palestinian, and Israeli control, and transfer movement to the Kerem Abu Salem crossing which is completely controlled by Israel".

He explained that "the Kerem Abu Salem crossing is a crossing between Israel and Gaza, one-way, while the Rafah crossing is between Gaza and Egypt in both directions".

Barghouti said: "This step could be part of implementing a plan to expel the Gaza Strip population through the Abu Salem crossing" which is also on the border with Egypt.

The war broke out in the Gaza Strip after an unprecedented attack launched by Hamas on Israel on October 7, resulting in the death of more than 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse based on official figures.

About 250 hostages were also taken during the attack, with Israel saying 132 of them are still in Gaza, and at least 27 are believed to have died.

Israel pledged to "eliminate" Hamas and launched a large-scale military attack that resulted in the death of at least 27,365 people in the Gaza Strip, most of them women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in the Strip.