Towards a just solution

Gamal Essam El-Din , Wednesday 5 Feb 2025

Egypt is moving on three fronts to halt potential plans to deport the Palestinians from Gaza.

Palestinians who were emprisoned by Israel arrive to the European hospital in Khan Younis for check
Palestinians who were emprisoned by Israel arrive to the European hospital in Khan Younis for check ups following their release in a hostage-prisoner exchange as part of a ceasefire deal for Gaza agreed by Israel and Hamas. (photo; AFP)

 

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said this week that Egypt is making a number of moves to maintain the Palestinians in Gaza on their land.

“Egypt has a clear vision for the reconstruction of Gaza, without forcing Palestinians in the enclave to leave their land. We have an Arab consensus on this matter, and we are talking with the United Nations in this regard,” Abdelatty said at a press conference with his Djiboutian counterpart on Sunday.

“Our moves are the first stage leading to the start of a credible political process and the creation of a Palestinian state,” he said, adding that this was the only way to put an end to the cycle of violence and aggression and achieve stability and security in the region.

Abdelatty stressed the need for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to return to carry out its duties and responsibilities in the Gaza Strip. “This is a second front we are working on to stabilise conditions in Gaza,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of implementing urgent reconstruction projects in Gaza in parallel with the entry of humanitarian aid, especially drinking water and materials related to sanitation and healthcare.

Egypt is preparing a plan in cooperation with the United Nations in this regard, he said.

On a third front, Abdelatty said he had discussed with Sigrid Kaag, UN special coordinator for humanitarian affairs and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, preparations for the conference Egypt is scheduled to host in cooperation with the UN for the reconstruction of Gaza.

Abdelatty urged Kaag to continue following up on the implementation of the financial pledges announced by donors during the Cairo Ministerial Conference held last December to enhance the humanitarian response in Gaza.

Abdelatty’s statement came one day after President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi spoke with US President Donald Trump by telephone, during which the two heads of state discussed the “critical importance of advancing the implementation of the first and second phases of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas and ensuring the permanence of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” according to Presidential Spokesman Mohamed Al-Shennawi.

The two leaders also discussed Egypt’s important role in the release of the hostages from Gaza. Al-Sisi expressed his confidence that Trump’s leadership could usher in a “golden age of Middle East peace.”

Al-Sisi and Trump also stressed the need to boost economic and investment relations and water security cooperation. Al-Sisi invited Trump to visit Egypt and to participate in the inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), scheduled for 3 July. In return, Trump invited Al-Sisi to visit Washington and hold in-person meetings at the White House.

Trump has described Gaza as a “demolition site” and has called for Palestinians residing there to be resettled in Egypt and Jordan either temporarily or permanently. This has been strongly rejected by both countries.

Political analysts agreed that the call between the two leaders is a sign that tensions between Egypt and the new US administration have reduced following a tense few days triggered by Trump’s call to “clean out” Gaza and push Palestinian refugees into Egypt and Jordan.

Al-Ahram political analyst Gamal Abdel-Gawad said the call means there is a shift in the US approach, moving away from threats and leaving room for discussion.

“There is no doubt that Egypt’s firm rejection of Trump’s displacement plan and popular protests against it have played a role in containing the tension and returning to the language of diplomacy,” Abdel-Gawad said.

However, he warned that “the displacement issue is far from over, and we will have to keep an eye in the coming weeks on how things develop.”

“Trump will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the king of Jordan, and President Al-Sisi, and we will see if diplomacy will replace threats,” he said.

Prominent political analyst Abdel-Moneim Said said in a TV interview that “the statement about the call between Al-Sisi and Trump was generally positive, reflecting the success of Egypt’s policy in clearly and firmly defining its stance while keeping channels of dialogue open with Washington.”

“Egypt was walking a delicate line between its firm rejection of Trump’s displacement plan and its keenness to maintain its strategic relationship with the United States,” he said.

The call between Al-Sisi and Trump came a few hours after a six-nation Arab ministerial meeting in Cairo on Saturday that firmly rejected any forcible displacement of the Palestinians from Gaza and reiterated calls for the implementation of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The meeting, held at Egypt’s invitation and attended by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, and Palestine, as well as representatives of the Arab League, issued a joint statement stressing the importance of working towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

The ministers voiced their strong opposition to any attempts to infringe on the inalienable rights of the Palestinians. This includes settlement activities, forced expulsions, house demolitions, land annexations, or any measures encouraging the displacement or uprooting of Palestinians from their land.

On 29 January, President Al-Sisi said that the forced displacement of Gaza’s Palestinians would be “an injustice that we cannot take part in”. He said he was “determined to work with President Trump, who seeks to achieve peace based on the two-state solution.”

Speaking at a press conference with visiting Kenyan President William Ruto, Al-Sisi said “it [the displacement of the Palestinians] can never be tolerated or allowed because of its impact on Egyptian national security.”

 “The deportation of the Palestinian people is an injustice that we cannot participate in… If I were to ask this of the Egyptian people, all of them would take to the streets to say no,” he added.

In a powerful show of solidarity, tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered in front of the Rafah Crossing with the Gaza Strip to protest against Trump’s plan to displace Palestinian people from Gaza and the West Bank to Egypt and Jordan.

Abdel-Gawad said that “the protests conveyed a strong message that Egyptians and Arabs are strongly united in rejecting plans to forcibly relocate Palestinians or ethnically cleanse Gaza, reflecting deep-rooted sentiments about national identity and regional stability.”

Political thinker Mustafa Al-Fiqi said “the demonstrations show that Trump’s proposals are unacceptable and are widely rejected in both official and popular circles in Egypt and the Arab world. This is because they pose a threat to peace and security in the region, potentially leading to disastrous consequences.”

Al-Fiqi said that Trump’s second term as US president seems to be one of aggressive diplomacy and support for Israel. “But Trump also has a good personal relationship with President Al-Sisi and is aware of Egypt’s influential role in the region. His administration’s decision not to freeze military aid to Egypt and Israel is a testament to that.”

The Board of Trustees of Egypt’s National Dialogue also held an emergency session on Saturday to comment on Trump’s calls to “clean out” Gaza, even as these have found no support except from the far-right and Israeli settler extremists.

“They represent a blatant and humiliating challenge to the entire world and the resolutions of international legitimacy issued since the Palestinian displacement in 1948,” the trustees said in a statement on 25 January.

On Monday, the House of Representatives, the lower house of Egypt’s parliament, joined the popular rejection of proposals to relocate the Palestinians from their homeland.

House Speaker Hanafi Gebali said that “MPs can’t ignore the serious danger posed by the proposals circulating about relocating the Palestinians from their land,” adding that “these ideas completely ignore the fact that the Palestinian cause is about more than just territory or population — it is about the struggle of a people fighting for their legitimate and historical rights.”

Gebali announced that Egypt’s parliament had made contact with other world parliaments to rally support for a fair and comprehensive resolution of the Palestinian cause and to stress that the idea of moving the Palestinians from their land is a red line for Egypt and the Arab world.

 


* A version of this article appears in print in the 6 February, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Short link: