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“You want us to take one million people? Well, I am going to send them to Europe. You care about human rights so much – well, you take them,” the unidentified official said.
The comment, first reported by the Financial Times, came as media reports suggested the Egyptian government was categorically refusing to accept the resettlement of Palestinian refugees in northern Sinai.
To avoid a mass exodus from the Gaza Strip into Egypt, the Egyptian army has begun setting up new positions close to the border, reinforcing the wall with barbed wire, expanding patrols and installing a concrete wall at the Rafah crossing with Gaza.
This means that, if Palestinians are allowed to cross into Egypt, they will be allowed only as far as the 8.5-mile buffer zone in Rafah.
The United States, which has been trying to strike a deal allowing refugees to leave Gaza, said on Tuesday that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, had agreed to let humanitarian aid reach the besieged coastal enclave.
Trucks carrying vital supplies for Gaza headed towards the Rafah crossing in Egypt, the only access point to the enclave outside Israel’s control, although it was not certain whether they would be able to cross.
Among the supplies contained in the Egyptian aid trucks stationed on the border are tents to provide shelter for those ordered to flee from northern to southern Gaza.
Egypt is pressing Israel to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings so that the large numbers of people are not concentrated on the Egyptian border.
The convoys of aid have reached the city of El Arish, just under 30 miles from the border with Gaza. However, American mediation has failed to produce an agreement to enable them to enter the Gaza Strip.
Egypt is refusing to let foreigners leave through the Rafah crossing before aid is allowed in, but Israel is insisting on inspecting the trucks before allowing them to enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which it controls.
Around 260,000 people have been displaced from their homes in northern Gaza since the outbreak of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, according to the United Nations.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Egyptian officials have discussed limiting the number of Palestinians that Egypt would allow to 100,000. However, Egyptian officials have categorically rejected the idea of settling Palestinians in the North Sinai.
Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian foreign minister, stressed on Monday that there was no way to achieve peace except by establishing a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s president, has urged Palestinians to resist efforts to force them to leave Gaza.
Europe urged to take 1m Gazans if it ‘cares about human rights so much’
Europe should take in the one million people trying to flee Gaza if it cares “about human rights so much”, a senior Egyptian official reportedly told a European counterpart.“You want us to take one million people? Well, I am going to send them to Europe. You care about human rights so much – well, you take them,” the unidentified official said.
The comment, first reported by the Financial Times, came as media reports suggested the Egyptian government was categorically refusing to accept the resettlement of Palestinian refugees in northern Sinai.
To avoid a mass exodus from the Gaza Strip into Egypt, the Egyptian army has begun setting up new positions close to the border, reinforcing the wall with barbed wire, expanding patrols and installing a concrete wall at the Rafah crossing with Gaza.
This means that, if Palestinians are allowed to cross into Egypt, they will be allowed only as far as the 8.5-mile buffer zone in Rafah.
The United States, which has been trying to strike a deal allowing refugees to leave Gaza, said on Tuesday that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, had agreed to let humanitarian aid reach the besieged coastal enclave.
Trucks carrying vital supplies for Gaza headed towards the Rafah crossing in Egypt, the only access point to the enclave outside Israel’s control, although it was not certain whether they would be able to cross.
Among the supplies contained in the Egyptian aid trucks stationed on the border are tents to provide shelter for those ordered to flee from northern to southern Gaza.
Egypt is pressing Israel to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings so that the large numbers of people are not concentrated on the Egyptian border.
The convoys of aid have reached the city of El Arish, just under 30 miles from the border with Gaza. However, American mediation has failed to produce an agreement to enable them to enter the Gaza Strip.
Egypt is refusing to let foreigners leave through the Rafah crossing before aid is allowed in, but Israel is insisting on inspecting the trucks before allowing them to enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which it controls.
Around 260,000 people have been displaced from their homes in northern Gaza since the outbreak of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, according to the United Nations.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Egyptian officials have discussed limiting the number of Palestinians that Egypt would allow to 100,000. However, Egyptian officials have categorically rejected the idea of settling Palestinians in the North Sinai.
Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian foreign minister, stressed on Monday that there was no way to achieve peace except by establishing a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s president, has urged Palestinians to resist efforts to force them to leave Gaza.
