Rafah, Egypt —
The displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is a “red line” and Cairo will not allow any party to risk Egypt’s national security or sovereignty, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Monday.
In an exclusive interview with CNN in the northern Egyptian town of Al-Arish, close to the Gaza border, Abdelatty said that Egypt is working through “different channels, with one objective, to alleviate the burden and suffering of Palestinians,” adding that mass Palestinian emigration from Gaza would not be tolerated by his country.
“We will not accept it, we will not participate in it, and we will not allow it to happen,” Abdelatty told CNN, adding that displacement is guaranteed to be a “one way ticket” for Palestinians out of Gaza, which would lead to the “liquidation” of their cause altogether.
The Israeli government has never given a detailed vision of what will happen to Gaza after the war but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly advocated for moving Palestinians from Gaza to other countries, particularly after US President Donald Trump floated the idea early this year. But even after Trump appeared to cool on the proposal, Israeli officials have embraced it.
Egypt is Gaza’s only access to the outside world as Israel has blockaded the territory from the land, sea and air. Cairo has come under intense public pressure to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians and has repeatedly blamed Israel for blocking aid as thousands of trucks remain stranded at its border.
Asked whether the war places the Egypt-Israel peace treaty at risk, Abdelatty said Cairo is “respecting and honoring (its) commitments according to the peace treaty,” but added that “any kind of displacement would be a big risk and we will not allow any single party to risk our national security and our sovereignty… in our border.”
The minister’s warnings are some of the harshest since Israel said last week that it is in talks with several countries about taking in Palestinians displaced by the war.
“If the Israelis manage to displace them, I can assure you that will be the end of the Palestinian cause,” the foreign minister said.
Egypt was the first Arab nation to recognize Israel in 1979.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that talks are underway with several countries about taking in displaced Palestinians.
The countries involved are South Sudan, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Libya, and Indonesia, a senior Israeli official told CNN. In exchange for taking in some of Gaza’s population of more than two million people, the official said the countries are looking for “significant financial and international compensation.”
It’s unclear how advanced any of these discussions are and whether they are likely to come to fruition. South Sudan rejected earlier reports that it was in discussions about the resettlement of Palestinians, saying they were “baseless.” Indonesia said it was ready to take in 2,000 Palestinians from Gaza for treatment but that they would return to Gaza once they recovered.
Earlier this year, Somaliland also said there were no such talks.
Abdelatty said that while Egypt maintains contact with Israel on the security and intelligence levels, it hasn’t seen a desire from the political establishment to conclude the war.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a partner in Israel right now for peace and the two-state solution,” he said. “We have ministers in the Israeli cabinet right now who do not believe in the two-state solution.”
Israel’s far-right ministers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have called for an expansion of the war in Gaza and the emigration of Palestinians from the enclave, which critics have said amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Abdelatty said negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal are, however, ongoing, adding that “we reached a sort of understanding on most of the building issues” with regards to the latest proposal submitted by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Last month, the US and Israel recalled their negotiating teams from Qatar, where talks had been taking place, with Witkoff saying the latest response from Hamas “clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire.”
The Egyptian foreign minister said Cairo is in favor of a comprehensive deal that ends the war, brings back hostages, releases Palestinian prisoners and allows aid to flow in. Israel’s demand to immediately disarm Hamas is, he said, an “impossible” condition at this stage of the talks.
“Israel is insisting on disarming Hamas now. Who will do it? How can we do it on the ground?” he said, adding that Israel has tried to eliminate the group through a 22-month bombardment campaign and still failed.
“We need to push now (for a deal),” Abdelatty said. There is currently a delegation from Hamas in Cairo, he said, and talks are ongoing with the Qataris, the Americans and the Israelis.
“We can have a deal if we have political will.”
On Monday, CNN saw dozens of aid trucks lining the roads to the Rafah crossing with Gaza, where many convoys have remained idle for weeks or even months, often causing essential food aid to spoil.
Abdelatty said that there are 5,000 trucks on the Egyptian side of the crossing waiting to enter the blockaded strip, but that “the Israelis are not allowing them to enter.”
Three truck drivers told CNN they’ve been waiting for more than a week for a greenlight to enter.
Medhat Mohamed, a father of three, had his truck turned back Wednesday after a rejection by the Israeli military, he said, adding that he has spent the past three weeks parked along the Egyptian side of the border.
“Once you’re here with your truck you cannot leave,” Mohamed told CNN. “Either your aid gets approved and you leave or you stay next to your truck – that might take weeks, or even months”
He said it was the little he could do to help Gaza’s starving population.
“This is not about money – we can get a lot of money from work in Cairo. We’re here because we want to help in any way we can the people in Gaza.”
Another driver, Mohamed Fawzy, told CNN he was carrying ICU beds that were rejected four times by Israeli authorities.
Amal Imam, the executive director of the Egyptian Red Crescent, told CNN the beds, along with the rest of aid rejected, had received pre-approval by Israeli authorities but had been rejected for containing metals and plastic.
