Egypt’s President, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, declared on Tuesday that his country would not permit Palestinians to escape the ongoing bombardment of Gaza and seek refuge in Egypt. This decision effectively shuts down the sole evacuation route for civilians wishing to heed Israel’s warning to leave Gaza.
El-Sissi expressed Egypt’s hope for a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian issue through negotiations leading to a just and stable Palestinian state. However, he firmly emphasized that Egypt would not allow the Palestinian cause to be resolved at the expense of other parties.
Israel has repeatedly urged civilians to vacate the Gaza Strip, which has faced intense Israeli airstrikes since a deadly cross-border attack by Hamas on Saturday. Yet, leaving Gaza has been a longstanding challenge due to the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt in 2007 when Hamas came to power. This blockade only allowed a limited flow of goods and people in and out of the impoverished territory for essential work and medical purposes.
Since the attack on Saturday, all border crossings between Israel and Gaza have been sealed. Furthermore, the only crossing point between Gaza and Egypt, located at Rafah, was struck by Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday night and subsequently closed, as reported by Reuters.
El-Sissi’s remarks reflect Egypt’s enduring concerns that Israel might attempt to address the Gaza conflict by relocating its Arab population to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. This region is characterized by arid landscapes and sparse population, which has long been home to an insurgency against Cairo.
Citing an unnamed security source, Egyptian state media reported that “the Israeli occupation has sought throughout the conflict to try to resettle the people of Gaza in Sinai,” adding that it was “forcing Palestinians to choose between death under bombing or displacement outside their lands.”
El-Sissi described the situation in Gaza as “highly dangerous” and cautioned that it could have far-reaching repercussions on the security and stability of the region.
It’s worth noting that Egypt and Israel have a complex history of conflict and cooperation. Egypt fought several wars with Israel, including the occupation of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula by Israel and the establishment of Israeli settlements there between 1967 and 1982. However, in 1979, Egypt became the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel, putting an end to decades of hostilities.
In the years following the peace agreement, the two countries have maintained a somewhat strained but often productive relationship, including collaboration on security and intelligence matters. Their cooperation has been particularly notable concerning the Gaza Strip, which Egypt ruled from 1948 until 1967 but has viewed as a security concern.
During the blockade of Gaza imposed by both Israel and Egypt, a complex network of smuggling tunnels crisscrossed the border between Egypt and Gaza. These tunnels served as a lifeline for essential goods and materials, as well as potential entry points for weapons. Egypt took significant measures to dismantle these networks due to fears of militants and arms infiltrating the Sinai Peninsula. In 2014, parts of Rafah on the Egyptian side of the border were leveled to eliminate these tunnels.
Egypt has also been deeply involved in suppressing the Muslim Brotherhood, an ideological ally of Hamas. The Muslim Brotherhood secured Egypt’s first and only democratic presidential election in 2012. However, this government was overthrown in a military coup led by el-Sissi the following year. Subsequently, many Brotherhood officials were imprisoned or killed, including the deposed president, Mohammed Morsi, who passed away in a Cairo courtroom in 2019.
This stance by Egypt further complicates the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, leaving its 2 million residents caught in the crossfire of conflict.
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Source: Deccan Herald
