On Thursday, Israel announced it has initiated preparations for the potential mass departure of a significant number of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, aligning with President Donald Trump's controversial plan for the territory. This plan has sparked widespread rejection among Palestinians and much of the global community, who fear that such a move may prevent refugees from returning and could lead to regional instability. Egypt has been actively engaging in diplomatic discussions to block the proposal, emphasizing that it could jeopardize the long-standing peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, a fundamental aspect of stability and American influence in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia, another crucial U.S. ally, has also dismissed any notions of mass relocation of Palestinians, asserting that it will not normalize relations with Israel—an objective of the Trump administration—without the establishment of a Palestinian state that encompasses Gaza. The Palestinians explicitly state that they do not wish to leave their home. Various human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, argue that Trump's proposal could equate to "ethnic cleansing," a term that describes the forced removal of an ethnic group from a specific area.
Israeli officials have embraced Trump's proposal, framing the anticipated departure of Palestinians from Gaza as a voluntary process. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz indicated he has instructed the military to prepare for the emigration of Palestinians through land crossings and suggested there may also be "special arrangements for exit by sea and air." However, there were no visible signs on the ground indicating that these preparations were underway.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has not made a public statement regarding Trump's plan, which proposes that most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million Palestinians be relocated with the U.S. assuming responsibility for rebuilding the ravaged territory. Israeli military actions against Hamas have left significant portions of Gaza in ruins before a fragile ceasefire was established last month. Nevertheless, Egyptian officials have communicated, under conditions of anonymity, to both the Trump administration and Israel that Cairo would staunchly oppose any such relocation initiative, highlighting that the peace agreement with Israel, which has endured for nearly fifty years, is at stake.
One Egyptian official reported that this message has been relayed to key entities within the U.S. government, such as the Pentagon and the State Department, as well as to Congressional members. Additionally, this sentiment has been directed to Israel and Western European allies, including Britain, France, and Germany. A Western diplomat in Cairo corroborated this message, conveying Egypt's serious concerns over how the proposed plan could threaten its national security.
U.S. officials later toned down Trump's original proposition, clarifying that any displacement of Palestinians would be temporary and that there had been no commitment made regarding the deployment of American troops or the use of U.S. taxpayer funds in Gaza. Egyptian officials maintain that the relocation of Palestinians is unnecessary for reconstruction efforts to proceed and continue to advocate for the establishment of a Palestinian state that includes Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem—territories that were seized by Israel during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
Israel opposes the notion of Palestinian statehood and has expressed intentions to maintain ongoing security control over both Gaza and the West Bank. The annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel remains largely unrecognized by the international community, with Israel asserting its claims over the entire city as its capital. Recently, Egypt hosted discussions with diplomats from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, all of whom rejected the idea of transferring Palestinians out of Gaza or the West Bank.
In an editorial from Egypt's main state-run newspaper, Al-Ahram, the publication warned that the independence of Arab nations, the unity of their peoples, and their territorial integrity are under serious threat, reflecting the grave unease surrounding the proposed plans and their implications for regional geopolitics.
