CAIRO: Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry Saturday said that while his country would deal with civilians humanely, the displacement of Palestinians remained unacceptable.
“It is not our intention to provide any safe areas or facilities, but necessarily if this was a case, we will deal with the humanity that is necessary,” said the minister at the Munich Security Conference.
Egypt is preparing an area on the Gaza border to accommodate Palestinians in case Israel’s military offensive on Rafah triggers an exodus across the border, media reported on Friday. Sources described it as an emergency move.
Egypt has repeatedly denied making such preparations.
“This is very hypothetical. We have constantly been dealing with maintenance on our border so I think it is jumping to conclusions to what those activities constitute,” Shoukry said of construction activity seen around the border.
Separately, North Sinai governor Saturday said that the armed forces were setting up a logistics zone to receive aid for Gaza.
The established area includes parking areas for trucks, warehouses, administrative offices and accommodation for drivers, the governor said.
Egypt has repeatedly raised the alarm over the possibility that Israel’s devastating offensive in Gaza could push Palestinians into the Sinai – something Cairo says would be totally unacceptable – echoing warnings from Arab states such as Jordan.