Egypt said on Sept. 5 it would not tolerate mass displacement of Palestinians and what it described as genocide, continuing to ratchet up its criticism of Israel’s Gaza offensive as thousands of residents of Gaza City defied Israeli orders to leave. “Displacement is not an option and it is a red line for Egypt and we will not allow it to happen,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters in Nicosia, Cyprus, Reuters reported yesterday. “Displacement means liquidation and the end of the Palestinian cause and there is no legal or moral or ethical ground to evict people from their homeland,” said Abdelatty. “What is happening on the ground is far beyond the imagination. There is a genocide in motion there, mass killing of civilians, artificial starvation created by the Israelis.”
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Egypt of “imprisoning against their will residents in Gaza who want to leave a war zone.” Apparently, Abdelatty was speaking in response to comments Netanyahu made on Sept. 4 that he would let Palestinians leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Border Crossing if they wanted to do so, but that they would be blocked by Egypt on the other side. “The comments attributed to Netanyahu regarding the uprooting of Palestinians from their land, including through the Rafah Crossing, are an attempt to prolong the escalation and instability, and avoid confronting the consequences of Israeli violations in Gaza,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
