Israeli ministry floats idea of transferring 2.3 million Gazans to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula
Egypt's Sinai Peninsula (on left) and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (on right)
The Israeli government in a draft proposal has floated the idea of transferring Gaza’s 2.3 million people to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The proposal has already drawn condemnation and rejection from Palestinians.
Israel’s intelligence ministry on Oct 13 released the draft, offering three alternatives “to effect a significant change in the civilian reality in the Gaza Strip in light of the Hamas crimes that led to the Sword of Iron war.”
What’s the proposal?
As per the document, Gaza’s civilian population is to be shifted to tent cities in northern Sinai. Subsequently, they will be moved to permanent cities, while an undefined humanitarian corridor will also be established.
The document further proposes building a “security zone” inside Israel to prevent any Palestinian from entering the Jewish country.
PM’s office downplays the document
PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office downplayed the report as a hypothetical exercise — a “concept paper.”
Although no timeline has been laid out to implement the plan, the draft has already revived the worst memories of Palestinians—mass displacement from their homes due to widespread conflict in the region in the late 1940s.
Watch:Israel-Palestine war: Tanks and bulldozers take position on the southern fringes of Gaza city
Palestinians have already voiced their opposition to any such designs. “We are against transfer to any place, in any form, and we consider it a red line that we will not allow to be crossed,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said of the report. “What happened in 1948 will not be allowed to happen again,” he added.
Longstanding fears of Israel
Egypt has had longstanding concerns that Israel may aim to forcibly relocate Palestinians into its territory, similar to events during the conflict surrounding Israel's establishment.
Between 1948 and 1967, Egypt governed Gaza until Israel took control of the region, along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The majority of Gaza's population today consists of descendants of Palestinian refugees who were displaced from what is now Israel.
Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, has expressed that a large influx of refugees from Gaza could undermine the Palestinian nationalist cause. He also highlights the potential risk of militants entering Sinai and launching attacks on Israel, which could jeopardise the 1979 peace treaty between the two nations.
As an alternative, he suggested that Israel could provide housing for Palestinians in its Negev Desert, which borders the Gaza Strip.
(With inputs from agencies)
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