The Wall Street Journal claims, citing Egyptian officials and security experts, that "a closed enclosure of 13 km2" is being built on the border with the Palestinian territory devastated by more than four months of war between Israel and Hamas.
In a report released this week, the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights says Egypt is building "a closed, high-security and isolated zone" for Palestinian refugees "in the event of a mass exodus."
The governor of North Sinai, Mohamed Abdel Fadil Choucha, denied any construction of this type but the Egyptian NGO stressed that two local business leaders had confirmed to it that they had obtained contracts to build a closed area "surrounded by walls of seven meters high.
Satellite images taken Thursday and studied by AFP show construction equipment building a wall in the Egyptian part of Rafah, an ultra-secure area closed to the press due to military operations against jihadists.
The land was also leveled, according to images taken between February 10 and 15.
This camp would thus be part of the “emergency plans” for the reception of these refugees, after the announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an upcoming military offensive on Rafah, and could shelter “more than 100,000 people”, according to the American daily,
Since the start of the war, Cairo has warned against any "forced displacement" of the Palestinian population towards Sinai, an Egyptian region bordering Rafah, while 1.4 million people, most of whom have fled the fighting, are crowding into this city where the border with Egypt is closed.
Also read: For Benyamin Netanyahu, not carrying out an operation in Rafah would amount to “losing the war” against Hamas
Palestinian leaders, the UN and many countries have expressed alarm at the catastrophic consequences for the population of such an offensive, and denounce the creation of a new generation of refugees with no prospect of return.
Israel denies wanting to move populations out of the Gaza Strip
“The State of Israel has no intention of evacuating Palestinian civilians to Egypt.
We respect and value our peace agreement with Egypt, (country) which is the cornerstone of stability in the region and also an important partner,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Friday.
Following the Camp David Accords, Israel and Egypt sealed their peace in 1979, the first treaty of its kind between an Arab country and the Jewish state.
But according to press reports, Cairo threatened to suspend this agreement if Palestinians from Gaza were pushed back by Israel towards the Sinai.
The war in Gaza was sparked by the Hamas attack on October 7 in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on data Israeli officials.
In retaliation, Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip which left 28,775 dead, the vast majority civilians, according to the latest report on Friday from the Hamas Ministry of Health.