Egypt rejects displacement of Palestinians in meeting with Abbas

Egypt rejects displacement of Palestinians in meeting with Abbas

• President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stresses need for all parties to abide by ceasefire agreement • Mahmoud Abbas praises Cairo’s ‘steadfast positions’ CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday rejected any plans for Palestinian displacement, hours after Israel’s defence minister said the army would “finish the job” in Gaza and remove Palestinians. During a visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Sisi “reiterated Egypt’s firm stance against the displacement of the Palestinian people or any attempt to annihilate the Palestinian cause”. Abbas praised Egypt’s “steadfast positions” and reiterated that “Gaza is an integral part of our state”, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The Egyptian president stressed that all parties must abide by the Oct 10 ceasefire agreement, including by halting escalation, ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid and creating conditions for Gaza’s early recovery and reconstruction, according to Arab News. Egypt shares the only land border with the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel, and has since 2023 rejected plans to displace the territory’s more than two million people into the Sinai Peninsula. ‘Finish the job’ Earlier in the day, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said it was only a matter of time before Israel resumes full-scale war in Gaza, “to finish the job so that we can also implement the migration plan”. He said that an October 2025 ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump had “supreme value for all Israelis” by leading to the return of remaining hostages and ensuring “a commitment by the US” to disarming Hamas. “We all understand that this is not going to happen — and the IDF is prepared, once given the directive to eliminate Hamas, to finish the job so that we can also implement the migration plan,” Katz said in a statement, referring to the Israeli military. He said earlier this month that Israel was ready to remove Palestinians from Gaza by sea and land but was waiting for the United States, which he said was discussing where the two million people would go. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee has denied any plan to “displace people out of Gaza against their will”. Nearly all of Gaza’s population has been internally displaced and most of the territory lies in rubble after three years of a war that has killed more than 73,700 Palestinians. Abbas also briefed Sisi on Israeli moves in the occupied West Bank, “most recently the implementation of the controversial “E1 settlement plan, which seeks to separate the northern and southern parts” of the Palestinian territory. The major settlement, which would further separate east Jerusalem from the West Bank, was green-lit by Isra­­el last year and has been met with international criticism. The UN secretary general has said the E1 plan posed an “existential threat” to a contiguous Palestinian state. Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2026