O Egyptwhich had clearly expressed its opposition to accepting more Palestinian refugees in the midst of the war Israel and the terrorist group Hamas at Gaza StripShe seems to have given in to the inevitable. Satellite images released in the early hours of this Friday the 16th show that the country appears to be preparing Area bordering the Palestinian enclave to receive a possible exodus of people in light of the impending Israeli invasion Rafah. Located right on the border with Egyptian territory, the city is home to approx 1.5 million people who left their homes in the rest of the Gaza Strip to flee ground attacks and shelling.
Four sources confirmed to Portal that the operation existed. One of them said Egypt was optimistic that ceasefire negotiations could prevent such a scenario, but decided to establish the border area as a “temporary and precautionary” measure. The construction of the refugee camp would have begun three or four days ago and may provide temporary protection to people crossing the border “until a solution is found,” according to the official interviewed by Portal.
Before and after: Area near the EgyptGaza border above, on February 10, and below, on February 15, after land was leveled and plowed , possible preparation of Egypt to receive Palestinians. February 15, 2024 (Maxar Technologies/AFP)
The other three security sources told Portal that the Egyptian government had begun equipping a desert area that had been plowed and leveled with some basic facilities that could be used to house Palestinians. Everyone emphasized that this was an “emergency measure”.
Machines build a wall along the EgyptGaza Strip border in Rafah, Egypt. February 15, 2024 (Maxar Technologies/AFP)
Satellite images show machines building a wall along the EgyptGaza Strip border in Rafah, Egypt. February 15, 2024 (Maxar Technologies/AFP)
Nakba 2.0
Egypt denied having made any preparations to accept Palestinian refugees. “This has no basis in truth. “Our Palestinian brothers said and Egypt said that there is no preparation for this possibility,” the country's state information service said.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the country has repeatedly stated that the relocation of the enclave's population to the Sinai Peninsula was “unacceptable.”
Cairo justifies that its opposition to the expulsion of Gazans is part of a broader rejection shared by several Arab nations of a repeat of the “Nakba,” or “catastrophe,” when some 700,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homes in the war that engulfed the Gaza Strip Founding of Israel in 1948.
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“Catastrophe”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said this Friday the 16th that a transfer of refugees from Rafah in Gaza to Sinai in Egypt would be a disaster.
“It would be a catastrophe for the Palestinians, for Egypt and for the future of peace,” Grandi told Portal on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany. He added that the Egyptians had made it clear to the UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip should be helped.
Israel said on Wednesday the 14th that its army is developing a plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah and move them to other parts of the Gaza Strip. But UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said on Thursday 15th that the operation was an “illusion”. He also warned of the possibility of a Palestinian invasion of Egypt if Israel launches a military operation in Rafah.