Egypt rejects permitting, participating in displacement of Palestinians

CAIRO – 17 August 2025:  With grave concern, Egypt has followed up on the recent reports of Israeli consultations with some countries to accept the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to their territories, said Egypt’s Foreign Ministry in a statement on Sunday.

Egypt affirmed that this comes as part of the unacceptable Israeli policy aimed at emptying the Palestinian land of its inhabitants, occupying it, and liquidating the Palestinian cause. 

It has been reported by Israeli media that Israel has been in contacts with five countries to deport the Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip to their lands, Al-Hadath reported on August 13, 2025. These countries include South Africa and Somalia. In May 2025, it was reported that US President Donald Trump’s administration was working to relocate about one million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya, the matter that was rejected by Libya at that time.

Egypt stressed that the aforementioned countries voiced their rejection to these reprehensible plans, the statement said.

Cairo reiterated its categorical rejection of all Israeli plans to displace the Palestinian people, whether in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, under any pretext, justification, or label; whether the displacement is forced or voluntary through policies of starvation, land confiscation, settlement, and making life impossible for Palestinians. 

Egypt also affirmed its rejection of participating in such displacement, considering it a historical injustice with no moral or legal justification. 

Egypt will not permit it, as it will inevitably lead to the liquidation of the Palestinian cause, the statement added.

“Egypt calls upon all peace-loving countries to refrain from involvement in this immoral crime, which contravenes all principles of international humanitarian law, constitutes a war crime and ethnic cleansing, and represents a clear violation of the four Geneva Conventions,” the statement read.

Cairo also warned any party involved in this heinous crime and the political consequences it entails, regionally and internationally, will be held responsible historically and legally.