Egypt lobbies against Trump plan to empty Gaza of Palestinians as Israel makes preparations

A man sells bread under the destruction of his bakery destroyed by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

CAIRO — Israel says it has begun preparations for the departure of Palestinians from Gaza despite international rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to empty the territory of its population. Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes against the proposal, warning it would put its peace deal with Israel at risk, officials said.

Trump administration officials have tried to dial back aspects of the proposal after it was widely rejected internationally, saying the relocation of Palestinians would be temporary. But officials have provided few details.

In a social media post Thursday, Trump said that the Palestinians would be “resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes,” after which Israel would turn Gaza over to the United States. No U.S. soldiers would be needed for his plan to redevelop it, he said. Hours later, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted again that the relocations would be temporary, with Palestinians living “somewhere else in the interim,” while Gaza is cleaned up and rebuilt.

Palestinians have vehemently rejected Trump’s proposal, fearing that Israel would never allow refugees to return. Egypt has warned that an expulsion of Palestinians would destabilize the region and undermine its peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of stability and American influence for decades.

Saudi Arabia, another key U.S. ally, has also rejected any mass transfer of Palestinians and says it will not normalize relations with Israel -- a key goal of the Trump administration -- without the creation of a Palestinian state that includes Gaza.

Trump and Israeli officials have depicted the proposed relocation from war-ravaged Gaza as voluntary, but the Palestinians have universally expressed their determination to remain in their homeland.

Trump and Israeli officials have not said how they would respond if Palestinians refuse to leave. But Human Rights Watch and other groups say the plan, if implemented, would amount to “ethnic cleansing,” the forcible relocation of the civilian population of an ethnic group from a geographic area.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that he has ordered the military to make preparations to facilitate the emigration of large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza through land crossings as well as “special arrangements for exit by sea and air.”

There were no immediate signs of such preparations on the ground.

Egypt wages a behind-the-scenes campaign

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has not publicly responded to Trump’s stunning proposal that most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians be relocated and the United States take charge of rebuilding the territory. Israel’s 15-month campaign against the militant Hamas group had reduced large parts of Gaza to rubble before a fragile ceasefire took hold last month.

But in a statement Thursday, the Egyptian government rejected efforts to move Palestinians from Gaza as a “blatant violation” of international law that could undercut ceasefire talks and threaten Middle East relations.

“This behavior provokes the return of hostilities and poses risks on the entire region and the foundations of peace,” the statement said.

Egyptian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door talks, said Cairo has made clear to the Trump administration and Israel that it will resist any such proposal, and that the peace deal with Israel -- which has stood for nearly half a century -- is at risk.

One official said the message has been delivered to the Pentagon, the State Department and members of the U.S. Congress. A second official said it has also been conveyed to Israel and its Western European allies, including Britain, France and Germany.

A Western diplomat in Cairo, also speaking anonymously because the discussions have not been made public, confirmed receiving Egypt’s message of its strong opposition through multiple channels. The diplomat said Egypt was very serious and viewed the plan as a threat to its national security.

The diplomat said Egypt rejected similar proposals from the Biden administration and European countries early in the war, which was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel. The earlier proposals were broached privately, while Trump announced his plan at a White House press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hamas, which still rules most of Gaza, has repeatedly condemned Trump’s proposal. On Thursday it said that any U.S. takeover of Gaza would be considered an occupation, implying that the militant group would respond with armed resistance. The group has yet to draw any connection between its objections to Trump’s proposal and the ongoing ceasefire. It’s unclear if it will have any impact on the next release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, set for Saturday.

U.S. officials scale back Trump’s proposal

When Trump unveiled his proposal, he said he wanted to “permanently” resettle most of Gaza’s population in other countries, allowing the U.S. to rebuild it as a “Riviera of the Middle East” for all people.

Egyptian officials said their government does not believe the Palestinians need to be relocated for reconstruction to proceed and is committed to the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.

Israel’s government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and has said it will maintain open-ended security control over both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community and considers the entire city its capital.

Last week, Egypt hosted a meeting of top diplomats from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- which was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords Trump brokered with Israel. All five Arab nations rejected the transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza or the West Bank.

In an editorial on Thursday, Egypt’s main state-run daily, Al-Ahram, warned that “the Arab countries' independence, their peoples' unity and their territorial integrity are under grave threat.”

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By Samy Magdy

Associated Press writer Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel and Suman Naishadham in Madrid contributed to this report.