Explained: Why Arab nations don't want to take in Palestinian refugees from Gaza

The US presidential hopeful Nikki Haley made a strong point when she asked the Islamic countries why they are not opening up their gates for Palestinian civilians from Gaza who want to flee their homes amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

"We should care about the Palestinian citizens, especially the innocent ones because they didn't ask for this. But where are the Arab countries? Where are they? Where is Qatar? Where is Lebanon? Where is Jordan? Where is Egypt? Do you know we give Egypt over a billion dollars a year? Why aren't they opening the gates? Why aren't they taking the Palestinians?" Haley told CNN in an interview.

She claimed that the Arab nations are not allowing the Palestinians because they know they "can't vet them" and they don't want "Hamas in their neighbourhood," asserting that "if Arab nations don't want them, then why would Israel? "

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Haley also said that Hamas is going to do "everything they can" to not let Palestinians leave, because "they want them all to die". She alleged that "one, they want to use them as human shields, but, two, they want to blame Israel and show images of dead children and say, look at what Israel did".

Those who are stuck in Gaza are currently in a dire state, in the absence of basic needs such as food, clean water, electricity, and medicines. So, what's the way ahead?

What are the options if Palestinians leave Gaza?

Ever since the conflict began, the future of the 2.3 million Gaza residents became uncertain. They have fled their homes, while still staying inside Gaza, a small piece of land wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.

Egypt is the only Arab state to share a border with Gaza, and Jordan is next to the West Bank - but both nations have warned against Palestinians being forced off their land.

Now the world is talking about the fate of Palestinian refugees as it has become one of the thorniest issues in the decades-long conflict.

But the neighbours are not ready. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi recently said that the current war is also an "attempt to push the civilian inhabitants to... migrate to Egypt".

Jordan's King Abdullah II gave a similar message, as he said, "No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt."

Jordanian King also warned "against any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from all Palestinian territories or cause their internal displacement," calling for preventing a spillover of the crisis into neighbouring countries and the exacerbation of the refugee issue.

Fear of permanent displacement

The issue underlines the fears that the conflict in Gaza could result in a new wave of permanent displacement from the land where Palestinians hope to establish a future state.

Some 700,000 Palestinians, almost half the Arab population of what was British-ruled Palestine, were dispossessed and displaced in the 1948 war around Israel's creation. Palestinians refer to the event as the Nakba, Arabic for "catastrophe".

El-Sissi even said "this is the cause of all causes, the cause of all Arabs. It is important that the (Palestinian) people remain steadfast and present on their land."

In the 1967 Mideast war, when Israel seized the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 300,000 more Palestinians fled, mostly into Jordan.

Many entered the neighbouring Arab states where they or many of their descendants remain. However, many still live in refugee camps.

After the fighting in the 1948 war stopped, Israel refused to allow refugees to return home.

Since then, Israel has refused Palestinian demands for the return of refugees as part of a peace deal, claiming that it would threaten Israel's Jewish majority.

Now, Arab nations fear that the situation will happen again and that a large Palestinian refugee population from Gaza will end up staying for good.

Watch:Will Israel invade Gaza? Egypt allows aid, but 'no refugees'

The Hamas worry

Another burning issue is Hamas, the Palestinian militant group which is designated as a terror organisation by many countries. The ongoing conflict began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Oct 7, killing over 1,000 people and taking around 200 as hostages.

Egypt says a mass exodus from Gaza would bring Hamas or other Palestinian militants onto its soil. That might be destabilising in Sinai, where Egypt’s military fought for years against Islamic militants and at one point accused Hamas of backing them.

Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Egypt has helped maintain a blockade of the strip, largely sealing off its border and imposing tight controls over the passage of goods and people through Rafah.

El-Sissi even warned about the wrecking of Egypt and Israel's 1979 peace deal. He said that with the presence of Palestinian militants, Sinai "would become a base for attacks on Israel. Israel would have the right to defend itself ... and would strike Egyptian territory".

He added that "the peace which we have achieved would vanish from our hands" and "all for the sake of the idea of eliminating the Palestinian cause".

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

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