If Israel begins its offensive on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, there could be a rush by desperate Palestinians towards Egypt. Cairo is apparently preparing for this scenario. And threatens its neighbor Israel.
For weeks, Egypt has been trying to increase security along the Gaza border with soldiers, fences and armored vehicles to prevent a rush of fleeing Palestinians to the Sinai Peninsula. The reason is Israel’s planned military offensive on the city of Rafah, which is overcrowded with refugees, in the south of the sealed-off Gaza Strip.
Apparently camps are planned for more than 100,000 refugees
As the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Egyptian officials and security analysts, Egypt is now planning to build a 20 square kilometer detention center in the desert near the border that could accommodate more than 100,000 people. It was said that the planned camp was located far from Egyptian settlements.
According to the newspaper report, Egypt has even threatened to terminate its peace treaty with Israel if there is an Israeli offensive on Rafah and a subsequent influx of refugees.
Israel is also apparently trying to prevent the scenario of a mass exodus to Egypt. In the event of an offensive on Rafah, the Israeli military would attempt to relocate the civilian population north – out of the combat zone but within the Gaza Strip, the newspaper quoted a senior Israeli military official as saying.
Denial from Cairo
There is currently no official confirmation of the construction of the refugee camp in Egypt. Instead, a clear denial: The report has no true basis, according to the head of the state information service.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu recently ordered the military to submit plans for an offensive on Rafah and for the evacuation of civilians there. It’s about destroying the last fighting units of the Islamist Hamas. According to the UN, around 1.3 million people are currently staying in Rafah. Most of them fled there from other parts of the Gaza Strip before the war, some on orders from the Israeli military.