CAIRO – 7 September 2025: Egypt firmly rejected Israel’s plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip via Egyptian territories, stating that Cairo won’t allow such a plan to happen.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty emphasized Egypt’s refusal to accept any attempts to uproot Palestinians from their land, as he addressed the Maspero cultural salon in Cairo on Saturday.
“Why should they be displaced when this is their homeland?” Abdelatty questioned, highlighting Egypt’s commitment to supporting Palestinian steadfastness and encouraging them to remain in their homeland.
Abdelatty’s comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week renewed calls for the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt, a scheme that the Arab world and many world countries including Europeans roundly reject.
Netanyahu drew condemnation from Egypt after stating in an interview that he could allow the people of Gaza to leave through the Rafah crossing, but Egypt will “immediately block” them.
Netanyahu claimed that Egypt is “imprisoning against their will residents in Gaza who want to leave a war zone.”
Egypt’s foreign ministry on Friday stated that Netanyahu’s statements are part of ongoing efforts “to prolong the escalation in the region and entrench instability, in an attempt to avoid facing the consequences of Israel’s violations in Gaza, both domestically and internationally.”
Egypt reiterated its firm rejection of “any forced or voluntary displacement of the Palestinian people from their land,” condemning Israel’s “continued targeting of civilians, civil infrastructure, and various aspects of daily life to compel Palestinians to leave.”
“Egypt reaffirms that it will never be a party to this injustice through the liquidation of the Palestinian cause or by serving as a gate for displacement. This matter remains a red line that will not change.”
Cairo called for “activating mechanisms of accountability for these declared crimes, which are increasingly being used as tools of political propaganda in Israel due to the absence of international justice.”
Egypt urged the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to provide protection for the Palestinian people and support their continued presence on their land in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
It also calls for pressure on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories, expressing rejection of “any attempt to force the Palestinian people to choose between remaining under Israeli bombardment and systematic starvation or being expelled from their homeland.”
The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have condemned Netanyahu’s remarks and stressed supporting the Egyptian stance.
The Arab nations in March have endorsed a $53 billion plan for the early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza, which aims to evade US-Israeli schemes to relocate Gazans permanently to other countries.
Leading the early recovery plan, Egypt is preparing to host a global conference with the United Nations for Gaza reconstruction, set to take place right after the aspired end of the war.
During his speech at the salon today, Abdelatty pointed to a clear Arab initiative addressing the post-war phase in Gaza, ready to be implemented once a ceasefire is reached. This plan involves full coordination among all concerned parties.
He stated that Egypt does not oppose the deployment of international forces in Gaza, provided that they have a clearly defined mandate and a role focused on empowering the Palestinian Authority.
The foreign minister warned that the ongoing killing and starvation in Gaza threaten the entire Palestinian cause.
He described a systematic targeting of civilians, including during their attempts to obtain food, and noted that humanitarian aid entering Gaza remains “extremely limited,” with no more than 200 trucks per day at best.
Since the start of the war in October 2023, Israel has killed 64,368 Palestinians in Gaza, many of them women and children, and injured over 162,300 more, according to the enclave’s health ministry.
Israeli has also destroyed homes and crucial facilities including hospitals and schools, forced most of the population to flee their homes, and plunged the enclave into a confirmed famine that has killed 382 people, including 135 children.
Sun, Sep. 7, 2025
