{"id":609115,"date":"2023-10-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/10\/31\/israel-pushes-gaza-ethnic-cleansing-plan-in-talks-with-eu-leaders-aid-agencies-plea-for-ceasefire-amid-catastrophic-humanitarian-crisis\/"},"modified":"2023-10-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T00:00:00","slug":"israel-pushes-gaza-ethnic-cleansing-plan-in-talks-with-eu-leaders-aid-agencies-plea-for-ceasefire-amid-catastrophic-humanitarian-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/10\/31\/israel-pushes-gaza-ethnic-cleansing-plan-in-talks-with-eu-leaders-aid-agencies-plea-for-ceasefire-amid-catastrophic-humanitarian-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel pushes Gaza ethnic cleansing plan in talks with EU leaders + Aid agencies plea for ceasefire amid \u201ccatastrophic\u201d humanitarian crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back ethnic cleansing in Gaza, Netanyahu urges Europeans:<\/strong>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is lobbying Western leaders to put pressure on Egypt to resettle displaced Palestinian refugees in the Sinai, the Financial Times<\/a> reported yesterday. Sources told the newspaper that Netanyahu last week held meetings with EU officials in a bid to build support for the plan ahead of the EU summit on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n

Remember:<\/strong> Israel has already displaced 1.4 mn civilians in Gaza, stoking fears in Cairo that it would try and drive them over the border into the Sinai. The IDF has ordered residents of Gaza City in the north to evacuate and move south due to its ground offensive.<\/p>\n

Key countries have rejected the idea:<\/strong> Germany, France and the UK all rebuffed Netanyahu\u2019s proposal as unrealistic due to Egypt\u2019s vocal opposition. \u201cNetanyahu pushed quite hard that the solution was for Egyptians to take Gazans at least during the conflict,\u201d one western diplomat told the FT. \u201cBut we didn\u2019t take it very seriously because the Egyptian position is and has always been very clear and they just won\u2019t do it.\u201d The US has also rejected the idea, with President Joe Biden<\/a> and Secretary of State Antony Blinken<\/a> both publicly stating their opposition. <\/p>\n

It did find favor in some quarters:<\/strong> According to the FT, both Austria and the Czech Republic have been supportive of the idea, and some officials want to ramp up the pressure on Egypt. \u201cNow the time is to put increased pressure on the Egyptians to agree,\u201d the paper quoted one source as saying. Czechia\u2019s top diplomat Jan Lipavsky yesterday called Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to discuss Gaza, according to the Foreign Ministry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The EU and Egypt are in discussions about treating injured Palestinians across the <\/strong>border<\/strong>, according to the paper. \u201cThe Turks [have] offered to establish a field hospital if necessary. We\u2019re not planning to move field hospitals to [north Sinai] but offering to provide technical support to strengthen a referral pathway from Gaza to Egypt,\u201d it quotes one official as saying. \u201c[The Egyptians] established a triage facility at Rafah, and we\u2019re still in discussions about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remember:<\/strong> The discussions come as the EU accelerates talks with Egypt over an economic support package aimed at preventing refugees from entering Europe. Under discussions reported by the FT<\/a> earlier this month, the bloc wants to provide money to support job creation and the green transition rather than pay Egypt to keep migrants within its borders.<\/p>\n

ISRAEL HAS A ROADMAP-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Intelligence Ministry has drawn up a plan for forcibly transferring the Gaza <\/strong>Strip\u2019s 2.3 mn population to the Sinai peninsula<\/strong>, according to a report picked up by the Associated Press<\/a>. The document, dated six days after the Hamas attack on 7 October, recommended displacement as the best of three options available \u201cto effect a significant change in the civilian reality\u201d in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Under the plans:<\/strong> All 2.3 mn people would be forced to live in tents in the Sinai while new cities are constructed and a \u201chumanitarian corridor\u201d is set up. Israel would set up a security zone to block them from reentering Gaza.<\/p>\n

This is a red line for Egypt: <\/strong>President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has repeatedly warned<\/a> that Egypt will not tolerate any attempt to displace Gaza\u2019s population into the Sinai.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu played down the report:<\/strong> The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the report a mere \u201cconcept paper\u201d and denied that discussions have been had with security agencies.<\/p>\n

But Israeli officials haven\u2019t exactly been guarded about the plans:<\/strong> \u201cThere is a huge expanse, almost endless space in the Sinai desert,\u201d senior Israeli diplomat and former deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, said in an interview<\/a> earlier this month. \u201cThe idea is for [the Palestinians] to leave over for the open areas where we, and the international community, will prepare the infrastructure, tent cities, with food and water \u2026 Egypt will have to play ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

A PLEA FOR A CEASEFIRE-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leaders of charities and NGOs pleaded with world leaders to enforce a ceasefire in Gaza<\/strong>yesterday to alleviate the humanitarian crisis. \u201cAn entire population is being dehumanized,\u201d the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) Phillipe Lazzarini told the UN Security Council<\/a> at an emergency session<\/a> called by the UAE. Lazzarini, as well as the head of Unicef and a senior official at the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, described the \u201ccatastrophic\u201d situation on the ground, where hundreds of children are dying every day, clean water and medical supplies are running desperately low, and looting at UN food warehouses threatens to make it \u201cimpossible\u201d to distribute aid.<\/p>\n

The numbers coming out of Gaza are shocking:<\/strong><\/p>\n