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Israel Begins Prep for Gaza Exodus 02/06 06:11
Israel said on Thursday it has begun preparations for the departure of large
numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with President Donald
Trump's plan for the territory. Officials meanwhile said Egypt has launched an
diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan.
CAIRO (AP) -- Israel said on Thursday it has begun preparations for the
departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with
President Donald Trump's plan for the territory. Officials meanwhile said Egypt
has launched an diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan.
The Trump administration has already dialed back aspects of the proposal
after it was widely rejected internationally, saying the relocation of
Palestinians would be temporary. U.S. officials have provided few details about
how or when the plan would be carried out.
The Palestinians have vehemently rejected Trump's proposal, fearing Israel
will never allow the refugees to return and that it would destabilize the
region. Egypt has warned that such a plan could undermine its peace treaty with
Israel, a cornerstone of stability and American influence in the Middle East
for decades.
Saudi Arabia, another key U.S. ally, has also rejected any mass transfer of
Palestinians and says it will not normalize relations with Israel -- a key goal
of the Trump administration -- without the creation of a Palestinian state that
includes Gaza.
Trump and Israeli officials have depicted the proposed relocation from
war-ravaged Gaza as voluntary, but the Palestinians have universally expressed
their determination to remain in their homeland.
Trump and Israeli officials have not said how they would respond if
Palestinians refuse to leave. But Human Rights Watch and other groups say the
plan, if implemented, would amount to "ethnic cleansing," the forcible
relocation of the civilian population of an ethnic group from a geographic area.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he has ordered the military to
make preparations to facilitate the emigration of large numbers of Palestinians
from Gaza through land crossings as well as "special arrangements for exit by
sea and air."
There were no immediate signs of such preparations on the ground.
Egypt wages a behind-the-scenes campaign
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has not publicly responded to
Trump's stunning proposal that most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million
Palestinians be relocated and the United States take charge of rebuilding the
territory. Israel's 15-month campaign against the militant Hamas group had
reduced large parts of Gaza to rubble before a fragile ceasefire took hold last
month.
But Egyptian officials, speaking Wednesday on condition of anonymity to
discuss the closed-door talks, said Cairo has made clear to the Trump
administration and Israel that it will resist any such proposal, and that the
peace deal with Israel -- which has stood for nearly half a century -- is at
risk.
One official said the message has been delivered to the Pentagon, the State
Department and members of the U.S. Congress. A second official said it has also
been conveyed to Israel and its Western European allies, including Britain,
France and Germany.
A Western diplomat in Cairo, also speaking anonymously because the
discussions have not been made public, confirmed receiving the message from
Egypt through multiple channels. The diplomat said Egypt was very serious and
viewed the plan as a threat to its national security.
The diplomat said Egypt rejected similar proposals from the Biden
administration and European countries early in the war, which was sparked by
Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel. The earlier proposals were
broached privately, while Trump announced his plan at a White House press
conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US officials scale back Trump's proposal
Trump said he wanted to "permanently" resettle most of Gaza's population in
other countries and for the United States to take charge of clearing debris and
rebuilding Gaza as a "Riviera of the Middle East" for all people. He did not
rule out the deployment of U.S. troops there.
U.S. officials later appeared to walk it back, saying the relocation of
Palestinians would be temporary and that Trump had not committed to putting
American boots on the ground or spending American tax dollars in Gaza.
The Egyptian officials said their government does not believe the
Palestinians need to be relocated for reconstruction to proceed and is
committed to the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and
east Jerusalem, territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel's government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and has said it will
maintain open-ended security control over both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the
international community and considers the entire city its capital.
Last week, Egypt hosted a meeting of top diplomats from Jordan, Saudi
Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- which was the driving force
behind the 2020 Abraham Accords Trump brokered with Israel. All five Arab
nations rejected the transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza or the West Bank.
In an editorial on Thursday, Egypt's main state-run daily, Al-Ahram, warned
that "the Arab countries' independence, their peoples' unity and their
territorial integrity are under grave threat."
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