Recent reports in regional media have claimed that Egypt is being pressured to take in Gazans as the war in Gaza continues.
Israel launched a new offensive on March 18. The goal of the war is to return the hostages after Hamas refused to extend the first phase of the ceasefire on March 1.
At the same time, there are continued rumors suggesting that Cairo is being pressured to take in some Gazans.
This comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump saying in January and February that Gazans could be resettled during the reconstruction of Gaza. Israeli officials have backed the Trump plan, although there are scant details on how this would actually happen.
Now, all eyes are on Egypt because Egypt is one place where Gazans can move on land. Not only is there a border between Egypt and Gaza, but Egypt controlled Gaza from 1948 to 1967 and thus has a historic role in Gaza. In recent days, there have been several reports about Egypt taking in Gazans.
The first reports appeared in the Lebanese Al-Akhbar media, claiming that Egypt could take in 500,000 Gazans.
Al-Akhbar is known to be pro-Iranian, so it could be that it put out this report to try to destabilize Egypt or create controversy. Cairo had hosted a meeting of Arab states aimed at discussing the future of Gaza.
Egypt and the Arab states reject displacing Gazans. Soon after the Lebanese report emerged, Egypt denied the report. “Egypt has strongly denied media reports that it will temporarily relocate half a million Gazans to the northern Sinai region as part of Donald Trump's highly controversial plan for the Gaza Strip,” the New Arab reported.
Cairo's State Information Service said in a statement on Friday that "these false allegations are fundamentally and completely inconsistent with Egypt's firm and principled position of absolute rejection of any attempt to forcibly or voluntarily displace our Palestinian brothers.”
Continued Iran-backed rumor-mongering
Al-Akhbar hasn’t stopped its rumor-mongering though. It reported on March 24 that the US was offering Egypt financial incentives to take in Gazans.
“It's worth noting that information has been circulating recently that the United Arab Emirates is mediating between the United States and Cairo, with the aim of convincing the latter to accept proposals to relocate a portion of Gaza's population to Sinai in exchange for pumping tens of billions into the Egyptian economy,” the report said.
The Lebanese media then said that “the issue was discussed during the visit of UAE intelligence chief Tahnoon bin Zayed to Washington and his meeting with US President Donald Trump. The discussion was then resurfaced during a recent visit by UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed to Cairo.”
There was no evidence provided for this assertion. On Tuesday, March 18, US President Trump hosted the UAE National Security Advisor, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, for a meeting in the Oval Office, followed by dinner with Vice President Vance and several members of the Cabinet, the US Embassy in the UAE noted.
“The UAE National Security Advisor, who was visiting Washington at the direction of the UAE President, HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, was joined by an extensive delegation including the heads of major UAE Sovereign Wealth Funds and corporations,” the report said. It did not mention Egypt.
On March 23, The New Arab reported that “Egyptian diplomatic sources revealed that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed's brief visit to Cairo included messages related to the escalating situation in the Gaza Strip, following Israel's resumption of its offensive on Gaza and its reversal of the ceasefire agreement.
Bin Zayed delivered American messages that were discussed during a meeting between President Donald Trump and Tahnoun bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and UAE National Security Advisor, at the White House last week.”
The report then said that “according to Egyptian sources who spoke to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Mohammed bin Zayed's visit to Egypt comes at a time when the US administration is continuing its pressure on Cairo and Egyptian institutions that reject Trump's plan to displace Gaza residents and transfer them to Egypt. This comes after several countries refused to accept Gaza residents on their territory.”
It went on to claim, “according to an Egyptian source, Cairo recently received a message stating that this is the last chance to achieve mutual benefit by allowing a portion of the Gaza Strip's population to be transferred to Egypt in exchange for financial flotation and the injection of billions of dollars into the arteries of the troubled Egyptian economy.”
The reports on the New Arab were not confirmed by Egyptian media.
Al-Ahram in Cairo did say that “President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Cairo on Saturday in a short visit, according to the Egyptian presidency.” However, the report did not mention that the US or Gazans had moved to Egypt.
The latest New Arab report is the latest spotlight in regional media about pressure on Egypt. It has been picked up in Israeli media.
Clearly there is a campaign underway to spread rumors about Egypt being under pressure to take Gazans.
These reports could be accurate or designed to create controversy between Egypt and the US and Israel.
They could also be aimed at derailing the UAE’s engagement with Cairo on various issues, and aimed at the recent UAE official’s visit to the US.
In the Middle East, it’s always important to know who is reporting something and why. Are these reports linked to Doha or Iran or other sources? It remains to be seen if more details emerge.
