In a rare move, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi proposed Israel move Palestinians affected by Tel Aviv’s war on Gaza to the Negev desert instead of requesting Cairo to host them.
The move came on Day 11 of the Israel-Hamas war as Cairo did not open the gates of the only Rafah border crossing to let Gazans take refuge in Cairo.
Sisi said in a media address alongside visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, “There is the Negev desert in Israel. The Palestinians can be moved to Negev desert until they [Israel] do what they wish to do with the military operatives in the Gaza Strip before returning [the Palestinians] back.”
The Egyptian leader said Cairo was opposed to hosting any Palestinians in the Sinai Peninsula.
“If the Palestinians are transferred to Egypt, the military operation initiated by Israel may last for years and years to come. In this case, Egypt will continue to bear the consequences and Sinai will be a base for operations against Israel and in this case, Egypt will be labeled as a base for terrorists,” he said.
Sisi said Israel’s total blockade of Gaza was a tactic to force Palestinians to move to Sinai.
“The acts by Israel cutting power, water, electricity, is a means to forcibly transfer Palestinians to the Sinai Peninsula, which we totally reject,” he added.
