Egypt, Jordan reject displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, West Bank

Prime ministers reaffirm stance during news conference in Cairo

Ibrahim Al-Khazen |09.05.2024 -


CAIRO

Egypt and Jordan reiterated Thursday their rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi “confirmed the complete rejection of the displacement of Palestinians and the attempt to liquidate the Palestinian issue at the expense of Egypt and Jordan,” Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said at a news conference in Cairo, alongside his Jordanian counterpart, Bisher Al-Khasawneh,

“Any action that could lead to the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza could extend to their displacement from the West Bank,” he said.

Madbouly indicated that Egypt “is trying to reach a Gaza cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas and take real steps to establish an independent Palestinian state.”

Al-Khasawneh said: “I conveyed a message from King Abdullah II to President al-Sisi, confirming the common positions of the total rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians.”

“Egypt and Jordan reject any Israeli military operation in the Palestinian city of Rafah, and the world must bear responsibilities in this regard,” he added.

The Israeli army seized control on Tuesday of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt -- a vital route for humanitarian aid into the besieged territory.

The move came one day after the army issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in eastern Rafah -- a move widely seen as a prelude to Israel's long-feared attack on the city, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sheltered.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,500 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Seven months into the Israeli onslaught, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul