Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that his country was ready to temporarily host half a million Gazans who would be evacuated from the Gaza Strip, according to a Friday report by Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.
According to the report, the Gazans would be allocated a city in the North of the Sinai Peninsula.
The comment reportedly came during a conference held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the situation in the Middle East, in which the Egyptian leader was present, among other attendees, Jerusalem Post reported.
According to the report, the temporary relocation offer has raised concerns with Jordan, who has previously taken a strong stance against such a move.
But the Egyptian State Information Service denied the report, saying, “Egypt’s position is firm in its absolute and final rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians, and the Cairo Arab Summit’s emergency plan for reconstruction is based on it.”
In public statements, Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah have repeatedly rebuffed US President Donald Trump’s assertion that the two Arab countries could take in Palestinian refugees on a permanent basis under his plan to empty the Gaza Strip of its residents and turn it into a “riviera.”
The issue is of crucial significance for Jordan and Egypt, which fear that an influx of Palestinians will destabilize their countries.
Throughout the recent two-month ceasefire between Hamas and Israel — which collapsed this week — Arab leaders held several summits regarding Gaza and their vision for “the day after the war.”
