Egyptians reject Israel's plans for 'humanitarian city' in southern Gaza

Cairo has voiced strong opposition to Israel's plan to establish a so-called "humanitarian city" on the ruins of Rafah in southern Gaza, warning it could trigger a mass exodus toward Egypt's border and further destabilize the region.

In a phone call last week with the US Middle East Envoy Steven Witkoff, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty firmly rejected the proposal.

Israel reportedly plans to put up a gated camp, dubbed the "humanitarian city", to host an initial 600,000 Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza. Once inside, the Gazans will be prohibited from returning to their homes indefinitely, according to the Israeli proposal.

Cairo's political stance on this echoes widespread Egyptian public sentiment.

"The Arab position is unified, and Egypt's position has been consistent from the beginning of the Palestinian issue. Our opinion is consistent, and the opinion of the Egyptian people is consistent, and the political leadership in Egypt is consistent: there is no displacement, no playing around with the Palestinian issue, no evacuating the land, and no displacement in any way, shape or form," said Ahmed Hassan, an Egyptian citizen.

Others echoed this sentiment, saying Israel has no right to displace Palestinians from their own land.

"This is their land. There is no way they will abandon it and leave. Anyone in their place would not leave their home or accept that someone else push them out of it," said Karam Al-Abassi, another citizen.

"This land belongs to Palestine, so it's not right for anyone to come and control someone else's land as he pleases. You understand what I mean? No, this land has had its name here in Palestine since ancient times, a very long time ago. Its name is Palestine. This is their land. It's not right for anyone to come and seize it all at once and take advantage of the fact that they don't have an army or a police force or anything," said a third citizen named Mohamed Hani.

The circle of war

The Arab League has also opposed the setting up of such a camp.

The pan-Arab organization stressed that there is no humanitarian cause behind the camp, indicating that the plan reflects Israel's continued intention to pursue what it calls an "ethnic cleansing strategy".

"Israel does not know humanity. Even in distributing aid with the United States, it was a trap for some of our brothers in Palestine. Today we are talking about a real tragedy that the international community has unfortunately overlooked," said Mohamed Al-Sherif, head of the Al-Araby Center for Research and Studies.

Cairo is worried that if the camp is put up, this could trigger a mass influx of Palestinians to the Egyptian border with Gaza.

It also means that Israel would step up its security presence in a zone between the two countries, where such a deployment would be a violation of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

"The more the circle of war expands, the more unsafe it becomes for Israel. We have seen how the circle of war with the Iranian side has expanded, and how Israel's security has been directly targeted. We are talking about losses faced by the occupying entity which have not occurred since the October 1973 victory. Of course, the liquidation of the Palestinian cause will not achieve security for Israel," said Al-Sherif.

Israelis are also divided about the plan as its implementation would increase the country's financial pressure. Internationally, some Jewish communities in Europe and the United States fear that it could fuel antisemitism and that it may be seen as akin to building a concentration camp for Palestinians.