Israeli intel document proposing relocation of Gazans to Egypt ‘ludicrous’: FM Shoukry

Ahram Online , Friday 3 Nov 2023

Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry has slammed as “ludicrous” a recently leaked Israeli proposal – attributed to Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence – to relocate Gaza residents to Egypt, stressing Cairo would not even give it the time of the day.

Shoukry

 

“States are sovereign and they are well-defined by their borders and their populations and the issue of displacement, in itself, is a violation of the international humanitarian law,” Shoukry stressed in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.

The Israeli paper, dated 13 October, proposes the permanent relocation of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million people to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, encouraging international support for the idea.

The document proposes that, during the conflict, Israel should take steps to relocate the Gaza population to Sinai, with temporary tent cities and new settlements to be constructed in northern Sinai.

According to the document, a buffer zone extending several kilometres into Egyptian territory would be  Simultaneously established, preventing the return of the displaced Palestinian population to the other side of the Israeli border.

In his remarks to CNN, Shoukry stressed that Egypt would not even consider such a ludicrous proposition, slamming the displacement of populations as an “illegal activity” that nobody should undertake.

“If that was the case, maybe the United States would also contemplate providing the same access to its southern border that might be expected for us in Sinai,” Egypt’s top diplomat pointed out.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office downplayed the leaked document as "hypothetical and non-binding."

However, Netanyahu has reportedly sought to lobby European leaders in meetings last month to pressure Egypt into accepting Gaza refugees.

Earlier this week, John Kirby, the US’s National Security Council coordinator, said Washington will talk with Egypt and other partners in the region about the possibility of hosting Palestinian families fleeing the Gaza Strip temporarily.

From the outset of the war and in a violation of international law, Israel has been urging Gaza residing in the north to leave their homes and move toward the south -- which borders Egypt’s North Sinai.

Several countries, including Egypt and Arabs, rejected the Israeli calls.

Egypt has repeatedly warned against any Israeli scheme to relocate the Gaza people to Sinai.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has affirmed that the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza would “liquidate” the Palestinian cause and make the two-state solution unachievable.

El-Sisi has also indicated that the displacement of the Gazans to Sinai means “transferring the attacks against Israel to Egyptian territory, which would threaten the peace between Israel and a country of 105 million people.”

The Gaza Strip has been under unrelenting Israeli strikes for nearly a month, coupled with a recent limited ground invasion.

Since 7 October, Israel has killed more than 9,300 people, more than half of whom are children and women, and injured more than 25,500 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israel has cut off all food, water, medicines, and fuel supplies to the strip.

Nearly 1.5 million Gazans were internally displaced as of 2 November after Israel destroyed more than half of all residential units in the strip, according to the UN. 

The UN has warned that the humanitarian system in the strip is facing a “total collapse with unimaginable consequences for more than 2 million civilians.”

Cairo has been exerting round-the-clock efforts to keep the Rafah border crossing with Gaza open to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in the strip.

Since the start of the Israeli war and blockade on Gaza, Egypt has received tens of planes from various countries carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza at Al-Arish Airport in North Sinai.

However, Israel has allowed the entry of a fraction of the humanitarian aid - excluding fuel - needed by the civilian population in Gaza since it imposed a complete blockade on the strip on 7 October.

Cairo has repeatedly called for the international community to pressure Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Egypt has agreed to allow 7,000 dual-nationals in the Gaza Strip to leave the strip through the Rafah border crossing.

Meanwhile, Egypt also received tens of wounded Palestinians for treatment in Egyptian hospitals.

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