Egypt recently issued a sharply worded message to Israel that a wave of Gazan refugees to Sinai would endanger the peace between the two countries, Israel Hayom reported on Monday.
According to one source, the Egyptian message was that “if even one Palestinian refugee crosses over – the peace agreement will be nullified.” A second source conveyed a more moderate message, stating that even if one Palestinian refugee crosses over – the peace agreement will be suspended.”
According to the report, Egypt’s fears are based on a number of past statements by Israeli officials about the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza as a possible solution to the problems in the Strip.
Egypt is concerned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will flow into Sinai and become “a permanent Egyptian problem.”
Egypt’s concern about refugees is also driving its opposition to Israel taking control of the Philadelphi Corridor, which separates the Strip from Sinai. If Israel continues to prevent Gazans from returning to northern Gaza and battles take place in the Rafah area, the Gazans will be forced to flee south.
This poses a major problem for Israel as a Hamas brigade with four battalions is located in Rafah and must be eliminated as part of the war’s goals. In addition, Israel must maintain some control of the Egyptian-Gazan border in order to thwart smuggling operations between Sinai and Gaza.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
All Gaza residents were citizens of Egypt from 1948 to 1967.
I thought no human being is illegal. If a Gazan wants to live in Egypt, let them. Otherwise, go to war against Hamas, not Israel. This takes blaming the Jews for everything a bit too far.
Both Egypt and Jordan are warning that they will end the peace treaty, i.e., resume hostilities if Israel doesn’t do what they want. They realize that under Iranian leadership, the Palestinians have finally made progress in obtaining their goal of a Judenrein Eretz Yisrael, and want to make sure they are the winning side. The United States is showing signs of serious weakness (a large number of Democrats support the demand for a Judenrein Eretz Yisrael, a large number of Republicans support a return to pre-World War II isolationism), and Israel shows internal weakness (reserve soldiers unwilling to fight, heavy dependence for foreign weapons and foreign funding that could dry up, and total disunity of the political system). And remember that Hamas won a major victory of Israel on Oct. 7, perhaps even greater than the Egyptians crossing the Suez Canal in 1973. They smell (our) blood, and it excites them.
Oh, the peace treaty is over? Ok, we’ll take back the Sinai now, thank you.
Square root:
All Gaza residents were citizens of Egypt from 1948 to 1967.
No, they weren’t. Where did you come up with that whopper?