The reason for the construction project is fear of mass flight from Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip if Israel launches its announced ground invasion there, write the newspaper. According to sources Reuters has spoken with, the preparation of the area began three or four days ago. The area set aside for the refugee camp will be just under 13 square kilometres. He is being built in the Sinai desert, near the border with the Gaza Strip, Egyptian officials and security analysts tell the Wall Street Journal. Palestinians queue to fill up jugs and containers with water in Rafa on Thursday. Photo: MOHAMMED ABED / AFP The governor of the North Sinai region claims that the activity in the area is linked to a review to obtain an overview of homes that were destroyed in the area during Egypt’s latest military offensive against IS. – A zoo According to Reuters, the UN’s emergency aid chief Martin Griffiths warns against the possibility that Palestinians will flee into Egypt if Israel carries out a ground invasion – a scenario he describes as “a form of Egyptian nightmare” Emad Al-Rozzi says the plans for the closed refugee camp will equivalent to a zoo. Photo: Lars Os / news According to the UN, there are around 1.3 million people in Rafah. Most of them have fled there from other parts of the Gaza Strip, many of them on orders from the Israeli military. – It’s crowded, and there are people everywhere. At the same time, people lack everything, not least food and drink. But also the opportunity to go to the toilet, says Emad Al-Rozzi, who is a university lecturer at Oslo Met. He says it has long been Israel’s plan to drive Palestinians away from Gaza and over to Egypt. He believes the refugee camp on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border will make the humanitarian situation even worse if possible. – It will become a zoo for people, where people are locked behind concrete walls. I cannot understand that it will happen in 2024, with the rights people have, says Al-Rozzi. Biden asked Netanyahu to help On Thursday, American President Joe Biden and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a 40-minute long telephone conversation. The situation at Rafah was one of the topics. In a statement from the White House, it is said that Biden “underlined his position that a military operation cannot be carried out without a proper and workable plan to ensure the safety and support of the civilians in Rafah”. The square is crowded in Rafah, where 1.3 million Palestinians now live. Over a million of them are internally displaced from other parts of Gaza. Photo: Hatem Ali / AP The president again committed himself to work for the release of all the Israeli hostages as soon as possible. Crisis plan Egypt believes that more than 100,000 people should be able to be housed in the camp in Rafah, according to the Wall Street Journal. The camp is surrounded by concrete walls and is located far from inhabited areas in Egypt. He is part of a crisis plan in the event that many Palestinians get out of Rafah and into Egypt, it says. Joe Biden has warned Benjamin Netanyahu to carry out a ground invasion in Rafah. Photo: Evan Vucci / AP The threat of an Israeli military offensive against Rafah has been met with strong international protests, and US President Joe Biden is among those who have warned. Strengthened security Egyptian authorities have for weeks tried to strengthen security along the border with Gaza with soldiers, fences and armored vehicles. The hope is to prevent a massive number of desperate Palestinians trying to get to the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian authorities have warned Israel against driving the refugees across the border and say that there could be consequences for the peace agreement that was concluded in 1978. If there is a mass Palestinian flight to Egypt, the country will try to limit the number of refugees to 50,000 or 60,000, although the camp is built for up to 100,000, write the Wall Street Journal.
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Egypt builds refugee camp surrounded by concrete walls – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
