As desperate Palestinians in sealed-off Gaza try to find refuge under Israel’s relentless bombardment in retaliation for Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack, many ask why neighboring Egypt or other Arab countries don’t take them in.

The two countries, which flank Israel on opposite sides and share borders with Gaza and the occupied West Bank, respectively, have replied with a staunch refusal. Jordan already has a large Palestinian population.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi made his toughest remarks yet on Wednesday, saying the current war was not just aimed at fighting Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, “but also an attempt to push the civilian inhabitants to … migrate to Egypt.” He warned this could wreck peace in the region.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II gave a similar message a day earlier, saying, “No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt.”

Their refusal is rooted in fear that Israel wants to force a permanent expulsion of Palestinians into their countries and nullify Palestinian demands for statehood. El-Sissi also said a mass exodus would risk bringing militants into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, from where they might launch attacks on Israel, endangering the two countries’ 40-year-old peace treaty.

  • girlfreddy@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
    3·
    9 months ago

    That’s fair. Kind of the same way as Afghanis and Iraqis have been used by Western nations to overthrow gov’ts that don’t want to make oil deals with said Western nations.

    It’s a game that costs innocent lives, no matter who the players are.

    • NoiseColor
      35·
      9 months ago

      Only that one is exploitation for practical reasons, one is religious. The first can be negotiated, the second cannot.

      This conflict cannot be solved by the west, Israel, or anyone else, but the Palestinians and for many decades they were pushed by hamas and Israel together to not go into direction of peace.