Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly made an emphatic proclamation that NO Palestinian refugees will be let into Egypt during a recent visit to al-Arish in northern Sinai.
At a press conference with government officials and celebrities, Madbouly declared that they are prepared to sacrifice millions of deaths to ensure that no one ‘encroaches into their territory.’
This announcement follows the reports that an Israeli government ministry has prepared a blueprint for wartime evacuation of the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip to the Sinai peninsula in Egypt.
Madbouly’s remarks demonstrate Egypt’s unyielding dedication to its sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said that Egypt would not accept having anything imposed upon it and that regional problems would not be resolved at Egypt’s “cost.”
His words should serve as a strong warning to anyone thinking of moving Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the Sinai Peninsula.
On October 13, the Israeli Intelligence Ministry issued a memo recommending the relocation of Gaza’s civilian population to tent camps in northern Sinai.
After the tent city phase, permanent cities and a humanitarian corridor would be built. The uprooted Palestinians would be barred from entering Israel, where a security zone would be set up. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has dismissed the research as a “concept paper” and a “hypothetical exercise,” according to his office.
Madbouly also visited the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip. He said the Egyptian government is actively involved at all levels, beginning with the political leadership of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and continuing through all state agencies, to address the “extraordinary humanitarian crisis” to which the innocent population of the Gaza Strip is currently exposed.
King Abdullah of Jordan, like Madbouly, has said that his country will not accept any Palestinian refugees. Egypt has made a similar remark.
Abdullah stated categorically, “No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt.”
