Commenting on Netanyahu's statements: Egyptian security source says 'escalation to be met with escalation'

CAIRO – 18 October 2023: Commenting on the criticism directed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Egypt for not opening Rafah Crossing, source at an Egyptian security agency told Al Qahera News Wednesday that Egypt would not allow the evacuation of foreigners from Gaza Strip and that escalation would be met with escalation.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stated on Wednesday that what is happening in Gaza Strip now is not an eagerness to direct military action against Hamas, but rather an attempt to push civilians to seek refuge in Egypt. 

President Sisi stressed that Egypt is a sovereign state and it rejects such attempts, adding that “if necessary, I can ask the Egyptians to come out and express their rejection to the refuge idea, and then you will see millions of Egyptians are ready to demonstrate as an expression of their rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.”

President Sisi added during a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Ulf Schulz at the presidential headquarters that “Egypt rejects the military solution to the Palestinian cause or any attempts to forcibly displace the Palestinians from their land, or for this to come at the expense of the region,” pointing out that Egypt will remain in its position in support of the legitimate Palestinian right to its land.

“We do not justify any violent action against a civilian,” he added. 

“Over the past years since the peace agreement with Israel, we were keen to make this path a strategic choice, and we seek for this path to be supported by other countries,” he said. 

President Sisi reiterated Egypt’s rejection to the idea of pushing Palestinians to seek refuge in Sinai, saying “Displacing Palestinians from Gaza Strip to Sinai means transferring the conflict and the killings from Gaza to Sinai, where Sinai becomes a base for launching operations against Israel, and in this case, Israel will have the right to defend itself, so it directs its strikes to the Egyptian lands.”

He further added, “If Israel is thinking of displacement as a solution, there is the Negev desert in Israel, where they can transfer the Palestinians to until Israel finishes its announced military operation against armed groups, and then return them.”