During the week of October 19, President Sisi vehemently spoke against opening the Sinai peninsula as a respite for the people of Gaza. Instead, he suggests they be sent to the Negev. The Negev or Negeb is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel.
“We reject the displacement of Palestinians from their land… What is happening now in Gaza is an attempt to push citizens to seek refuge and migrate to Egypt.”
It seems Egypt doesn’t want to be complicit in a Palestinian land grab should Palestinians leave their homeland.
Egypt is geographically positioned to provide a physical temporary solution to the people of occupied Palestine, from indiscriminate killings and terrorism especially for the people of Gaza. Their humanity and safety is in jeopardy.
They were denied refuge in the Sinai to secure peace and protect Palestinian lands.
With regard to Palestinian migration from Gaza and occupied Palestine, English Aawsat reported Sisi emphasizing that “there will be no compromise… under any circumstances, and the Egyptian people must be aware of the complexities of the situation.”
The Treaty of Peace signed March 26, 1979 between Egypt and Israel gives Egypt full sovereignty over the Sinai, as written in Article I.2. In the treaty are provisions for security from aggression.
However, line-item C of Article III says “They will refrain from the threat or use of force, directly or indirectly, against each other.”
The Peace Treaty also lays the foundation for security arrangements, limited zones for use of force covering both Egypt and Israel.
Article III.3 states “Each Party also undertakes to refrain from organizing, instigating, inciting, assisting or participating in acts or threats of belligerency, hostility, subversion or violence against the other Party, anywhere, and undertakes to ensure that perpetrators of such acts are brought to justice.”Egypt is fulfilling its terms of the treaty, but how far it will aid the Palestinian people remains to be seen. On Saturday, October 21, Egypt opened the border with Gaza briefly to allow trucks of food, water and medical supplies, mostly from the United Nations, to enter.
El Hajjah Anisa
