The Egyptian president, Abdul Fattah al-Sissi, was categorical yesterday: he will not allow the opening of his side of the Rafah border crossing even for the evacuation of foreign citizens from the Gaza Strip "in the face of Israeli intransigence" .
Al-Sissi, who received the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, remarked that it was not Egypt's will to keep the Rafah crossing closed, but the Israeli army bombed the vicinity at least four times, the last one on Monday. "What is happening in Gaza is an attempt to force civilian residents to seek refuge and migrate to Egypt, which should not be accepted."
Al-Sissi did not spare explanations this time and clearly stated the Egyptian position: accepting the mass entry of Gazans would mean a displacement of the Palestinian population to their country, which, moreover, "would cause a similar displacement ” in the West Bank towards the neighboring country, Jordan, so that “a Palestinian State would be impossible”.
Thus, Al-Sissi was clearly expressing the old fears of both Egypt and the Palestinians, the hypothetical intention of Israel to turn the Palestinians into refugees in both countries, which, in the case of Gaza, could imply a new occupation - physically speaking - of the territory by Israel. "If I ask the Egyptians to express themselves, then they will see millions of Egyptians ready to show their rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza", he said.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry commented: "If they ask me to take in 2.5 million - Gazans are estimated to be 2.3 million people - they can ask the UK or any member country of the European Union that adopts the same policy". Shoukry recalled that Egypt already hosts nine million refugees, not only Palestinians, but also from African countries.
From Beirut, a representative of Hamas, Ossama Hamdan, validated the Egyptian position and asked that it be supported in the popular and official sphere by the Arab countries, "because it represents a real protection of our Palestinian people".
From another point of view, a massive influx of refugees into the Sinai could pose a security risk for Egypt and a source of instability, since terrorist activity in the peninsula has never stopped. Al-Sissi was also frank in this sense: if Sinai "becomes a base to launch operations against Israel, in this case Israel will have the right to defend itself, so it will direct attacks against Egyptian territory." It should be remembered that it was the first Arab country to sign peace with Israel, in 1979, followed by Jordan in 1994.
What the Egyptian Government does not oppose at all, but rather the opposite, is the passage of humanitarian aid to Gaza through Rafah. Up to 115 trucks loaded with food, water and medicine are waiting in the city of Al-Arix, some forty kilometers from the strip. Minister Shoukry pointed out that during the bombing of Rafah, four Egyptian workers were injured precisely when they were trying to repair some damage. The bombings followed the Israeli indication that the Gazans should go to the south of the strip and, specifically, to Rafah.
Yesterday, thousands of students demonstrated at Egyptian universities, in Cairo and Alexandria, against the Israeli bombing of the strip. In the capital, the protest reached the vicinity of the United States embassy. Just yesterday, Al-Sissi was supposed to meet in Amman with Joe Biden, King Abdullah of Jordan and Mahmud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, a meeting that was frustrated by the explosion that took place at the hospital Al -Ahli from the city of Gaza and which caused hundreds of deaths.
