Egypt says displacement of Gazans unacceptable, but will deal with civilians humanely

Egypt’s foreign minister says that while his country would deal with civilians humanely, the displacement of Palestinians remained unacceptable.

“It is not our intention to provide any safe areas or facilities, but necessarily if this was a case we will deal with the humanity that is necessary,” Sameh Shoukry says at the Munich Security Conference.

Egypt has reportedly been preparing an area at the Gaza border that could accommodate Palestinians in case an Israeli military offensive into Rafah prompts an exodus across the frontier. Sources described this as a contingency move.

Egypt has repeatedly denied making such preparations.

“This is very hypothetical. We have constantly been dealing with maintenance on our border so I think it is jumping to conclusions to what those activities constitute,” Shoukry says of construction activity seen around the border.

Separately, the governor of North Sinai said earlier that the armed forces are establishing a logistics zone to receive aid for Gaza.

The area being established includes parking areas for trucks, warehouses, administrative offices, and accommodation for drivers, the governor said.

Egypt has repeatedly raised the alarm over the possibility that Israel’s Gaza offensive could displace Palestinians into Sinai — something Cairo says would be completely unacceptable — echoing warnings from Arab states such as Jordan.