Why Egypt rejects a Palestinian population transfer from Gaza

Out of the question

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

El-Sisi's latest remarks come after the Israeli army called on residents in northern Gaza to move southward for their own safety. The calls for evacuation came amid unverified reports about backroom negotiations with Egypt to accept Palestinian refugees in return for writing off some or all its debts.

However, official statements in the past few days have made Egypt's position crystal clear: it completely rejects any transfer of Palestinians to its territory.

This rejection comes despite Egypt's gruelling financial crisis, including its accumulating debts and rising inflation, which has heavily diminished the purchasing power of tens of millions of people.  

During a meeting on 15 October, Egypt's National Security Council, which is headed by el-Sisi and includes the army's top brass and most senior security officials, rejected any acceptance of Palestinian refugees in Sinai either permanently or temporarily.

It condemned attempts to kill the Palestinian issue at the expense of neighbouring countries and reemphasised that it could only be solved by a two-state solution.

It highlighted Egypt's readiness to de-escalate the situation in Gaza and open the door for true peace-making between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

The council meeting came only hours before a visit to Cairo by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Stay put

El-Sisi clarified his country's position on Israel's plan to transfer the residents of Gaza to Sinai for the first time on 12 October.

At the end of a graduation ceremony of military colleges in Cairo, the Egyptian leader asked Gaza residents to stay put.

He said Egypt hosts nearly 9 million refugees who fled seeking refugee from war back home, but he stressed the case with Gaza was different.

"This (the Palestinian issue) is the issue of all issues and the prime concern of all Arabs," el-Sisi said. "It is important that its people (the Palestinians) remain steadfast and stay on their land."

Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry echoed his comments after meeting French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, in Cairo on 16 October.

Egypt, he said, rejects the liquidation of the Palestinian issue.

Meanwhile, Egypt has been trying to prevent an exodus of Gazans into Sinai by ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid and basic necessities into southern Gaza. 

Israel has conditioned the entry of aid into Gaza on the exit of Palestinians with dual nationality.

Arabs and Palestinians learned their lesson from history when Israel established a state on Palestinian land in 1948. More than 700,000 Palestinians fled out of fear for their lives after massacres carried out by Jewish terrorist gangs. They ended up as refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

So Egypt's rejection of transferring Palestinians comes with an acute awareness that Israel wants to create ground realities that lead to Palestinians never returning.

"The Palestinians will lose their statehood dreams once they lose their land," Hassan Salama, a professor of political science at Cairo University, told Al Majalla. "The Palestinians who fled to other Arab countries were never allowed to return to their country."

He described the possible transfer of Palestinians into Sinai as a 'new Nakba' in the making.

Over 100,000 Palestinians live in Egypt already — most have been in the country for decades.

Not a grain of sand

Israel probably regrets its 2005 unilateral disengagement and pull-out of Gaza, believing that this allowed Hamas to grow its strength leading up to its latest operation on Israel.

Israeli generals believe that retaking Gaza will cushion Israeli cities against the threat of Hamas attacks. 

The Israeli army is not keen on entrenching itself in Gaza with 2.3 million people, even if it successfully eradicates Hamas.

This is why it is so determined to kick Palestinians out of Gaza and into Sinai, to make taking control of the territory much easier. If its successful, it could turn its sights on kicking out the three million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank into Jordan, a scenario King Abdullah II of Jordan also warned against.

Nonetheless, Egypt is hell-bent on making sure this does not happen.

Apart from working to protect Palestinian statehood aspirations, Egypt also has an unwavering belief in the sanctity of its territorial integrity.

During its 15 October meeting, the National Security Council described Egypt's national security as a 'redline', vowing to take all measures to protect this security.

A retired Egyptian army general said, Egypt does not allow the slightest tampering with its territories.

"When it comes to its national security, Egypt has no room for any meddling," Nasr Salem, who, as a young officer, was at the vanguard of the war of attrition that paved the road for the 1973 October war and the liberation of Sinai from Israeli occupation, told Al Majalla.

"Nobody can get a grain of Sinai's sand."