For fear of mass exodus
Egypt is to build camps for over 100,000 refugees
February 16, 2024, 7:30 a.m
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In view of an announced ground offensive by the Israeli army on the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Egypt is to build a camp for Palestinian refugees. The country fears a massive attack on its own border.
According to a media report, Egypt is building a massive reception camp in the desert surrounded by high concrete walls due to fears of a mass exodus from the Gaza Strip in the event of an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah. More than 100,000 people could be accommodated in tents in the camp, located near the border with the Gaza Strip in Egypt’s Sinai desert, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Egyptian officials and security analysts.
For weeks, Egypt has been trying to increase security along the Gaza border with soldiers, fences and armored vehicles to prevent a rush of desperate Palestinians to the Sinai Peninsula. The planned camp is part of an emergency plan in the event that a large number of Palestinians manage to escape.
The governor of Egypt’s North Sinai region denied initial reports on Thursday about the construction of a potential refugee camp for Palestinians, it was said. He said the activities in the area were part of an inventory of homes destroyed during Egypt’s past military campaign against Islamic State extremists in the area. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently ordered his country’s military to submit plans for an offensive in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, which borders Egypt, and for the evacuation of civilians there. It’s about destroying the last Hamas fighting units.
Many refugees in Rafah
According to the UN, around 1.3 million people live in Rafah. Most fled there before the war from other parts of the Gaza Strip, some on orders from the Israeli military. In the event of a major influx of Palestinians from Gaza, Egypt would ideally try to limit the number of refugees to around 50,000 to 60,000, although the new desert camp with an area of around 20 square kilometers could accommodate more than 100,000 could record, the newspaper reported. This corresponds to the population of Cottbus.
It was said that the planned camp was located far from Egyptian settlements. A large number of tents have already been brought there but have not yet been set up, the newspaper quoted Egyptian officials as saying.
Israel’s planned military offensive in Rafah is meeting with growing international criticism. According to the Wall Street Journal, Egypt has even threatened to terminate its peace treaty with Israel if there is an influx of Palestinians from Gaza across the border. If Israel decides to launch the offensive, the military would try to move the civilian population north – out of the combat zone but within the Gaza Strip – the newspaper quoted a senior Israeli military official as saying.