Egypt agrees to send aid to Gaza, will not allow refugees

According to Egyptian security sources, Egypt has discussed humanitarian aid plans with the US and other countries, but it resists any effort to provide safe passageways for people leaving the enclave. Around 2.3 million people live in Gaza, a small coastal strip of land surrounded by Egypt to the southwest and Israel to the north and east, under a blockade that has been in place since 2007 when the Palestinian Islamist organisation Hamas seized power there. Even in the midst of the most intense hostilities, Egypt has traditionally imposed restrictions on the entry of Gaza residents. Cairo, a regular mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, consistently demands that the two sides settle disputes inside of their respective boundaries, claiming that this is the only way Palestinians can achieve their goals. The idea of a safe passage for civilians from Gaza, which has been subjected to a massive Israeli assault in response to a deadly incursion by Hamas fighters into Israel, has been discussed in consultations between the United States, Israel, and Egypt, according to U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan late on Tuesday. Unnamed security source claimed that Egypt opposed the notion of creating safe passageways for civilians to safeguard “the right of the Palestinians to hold on to their cause and their land.” Palestinian refugees who fled their homes in 1948 when Israel was founded are currently housed in camps in a number of Arab nations. A definitive peace agreement is necessary, according to the Palestinians and other Arab states. According to a statement from Sisi’s office, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi informed Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani at a meeting in Cairo that Egypt has been stepping up its efforts to control the situation in Gaza. According to Egyptian security officials, the notion of transferring humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula under a geographically constrained truce was considered in negotiations between Egypt and the United States, Qatar, and Turkey. According to officials in Gaza and Egypt, the crossing, which is the main exit point from Gaza that is not under Israeli control, has been blocked since Tuesday after Israeli bombardments struck on the Palestinian side. Egypt has issued numerous remarks this week admonishing against the potential that Israel’s attack on Gaza would force 2.3 million residents of the enclave onto Egyptian soil. (With agency inputs)