Palestinians from Rafah at the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Egypt (European)
The American Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified Egyptian sources and security analysts, said that Egypt is establishing a buffer zone surrounded by concrete walls near the border with the Gaza Strip in anticipation of the possibility of a large influx of displaced Palestinians, due to the possible Israeli military operation in Rafah.
The newspaper added that the buffer zone, which is located in North Sinai and has an area of approximately 13 square kilometers, is located far from residential communities, and published images taken by satellites for the company “Labs BBC” based in San Francisco, showing the bulldozing of soil in the supposed closed area between February 4 and 14. This February.
She also referred to a video clip published by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights - based in London - showing what the foundation said was the area surrounded by concrete walls exceeding 6 meters in height.
According to what was stated in the report, a camp may be established in the area to accommodate about 100,000 displaced Palestinians.
However, the newspaper, on the other hand, reported statements by the Governor of North Sinai, Muhammad Abdel Fadil Shusha, in which he denied yesterday, Thursday, what was reported about the possibility of establishing a buffer zone that includes a camp to house displaced Palestinians who may flee from Rafah, indicating that the reason for the works is that committees from the governorate inventory the homes and homes that It was demolished during the war on terrorism.
The Sinai Foundation obtained new photographic materials confirming what was published yesterday about the Egyptian authorities building a security buffer zone surrounded by walls in the Egyptian city of Rafah, east of Sinai.
The new materials show what the organization’s sources confirmed by starting to establish an isolated area surrounded by walls on the border with the Gaza Strip, with the aim of receiving refugees immediately… pic.twitter.com/EzeI4XDX34
— Sinai for Human Rights (@Sinaifhr) February 15, 2024
The Wall Street Journal referred to the declared Egyptian position against the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, which reached the point of threatening to withdraw from the Camp David peace agreement with Israel.
She stated that Egyptian officials believe that the Israeli attack that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to launch on the city of Rafah, adjacent to the Egyptian border, could occur within weeks.
The American newspaper quoted Egyptian officials as saying that Palestinians who may flee to the closed area in northern Sinai will be allowed to travel only if they are heading to other countries.
For its part, The Washington Post published a report on the same topic based on the video published by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights and satellite images.
A former Egyptian official told the newspaper that the worst scenarios must be dealt with, adding that the Egyptian army cannot fire on Palestinians if tens of thousands of them flow across the border.
The Washington Post contacted an Egyptian official who referred it to statements made recently by the head of the Egyptian Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, in which he responded to Israel’s accusations of smuggling weapons from Sinai to Gaza, stressing that his country has complete control over its entire northeastern border, whether with the Gaza Strip or with Israel.
Source: American press