Israel's relentless war against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, is leading to increasingly strained ties with Egypt.

Relations between the two states have taken a turn for the worse since Israeli troops seized control of the Hamas-controlled side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on May 6.

In photos that have since gone viral, Israeli soldiers can be seen raising the Israeli flag near the border crossing.

Since then, Egypt has kept its side of the border shut and has said it will remain closed as long as Israeli troops are on the Gaza side. It has also said it will no longer cooperate with Israel to transfer humanitarian aid and will only reopen the crossing if the Rafah side comes under Palestinian control again.

Satellite footage, meanwhile, shows thousands of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid parked near the Egyptian side of the border.

Gaza's population of 2.3 million is under imminent threat of famine, according to the United Nations.

On Thursday, Israel said it would be sending more troops into Rafah, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the capture of the crossing was "an important step toward dismantling Hamas' military and governing capabilities."

"Egypt strongly condemns the occupation of the border crossing," Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, an associate professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told DW. "Egypt's current reactions are driven by anger and frustration."

He explained that since Israel's military campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented attack launched by Hamas on October 7,........

© Deutsche Welle