- By Alys Davies and Paul Adams, diplomatic correspondent
- BBC News
February 16, 2024
Image source: Maxar Technologies
Satellite images appear to show extensive construction work along Egypt's border with Gaza, reportedly being carried out in preparation for housing Palestinian refugees.
Unnamed Egyptian sources reportedly said that work is being carried out to establish an isolated buffer zone with a walled enclosure in Egypt's North Sinai province in case Israel continues its planned ground offensive in the Gaza Strip's southernmost city of Rafah.
According to a report published by a human rights group, seven-meter-high walls will be built in the zone.
Egypt has publicly denied making such preparations.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also said Israel “has no intention of evacuating Palestinian civilians to Egypt.”
Since the start of the Gaza war after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, Egypt has repeatedly said it would not open its border to refugees.
It took this stance partly because it did not want to create the impression that it was complicit in the large-scale displacement of Palestinians, but also for economic and security reasons.
Despite numerous international warnings, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be ready for a major offensive in Rafah, where around 1.4 million people are seeking refuge.
Israel claims Hamas forces are in the city and must be “eliminated.” They also believe Israeli hostages are being held there, 130 of whom are still missing.
Ahead of the planned attack on Rafah, Israel orders civilians to move to open areas north of the city.
Mr Netanyahu has spoken vaguely of “areas we have cleared north of Rafah”, but there are indications that planning is still at an early stage.
Israel had previously ordered Palestinians to head to Rafah while fighting continued in the north of the strip at the start of its offensive.
“We will fight until complete victory and that includes a forceful action in Rafah after allowing civilians to leave the fighting areas,” Netanyahu said on Thursday.
The latest satellite images released by Maxar Technologies may indicate that Egypt has decided to take precautionary measures due to the impending offensive.
In an image from February 15, large areas of land near the Rafah border crossing into Gaza appear to have been cleared.
The work appears to have been completed in recent days, as shown by comparing the landscape with an earlier image of the same area from five days ago.
The governor of Egypt's North Sinai province, Mohammed Shousha, said on Thursday in a conversation with Saudi news channel Al Arabiya Al Hadath TV that the purpose of the activity in the region was to “conduct an inventory of houses” during Egypt Last campaign against Islamists destroyed state group in the region.
Mr. Shousha added that Egypt's position is “not to allow the forced relocation of Gazans to Egypt.”
But satellite images from February 15 also show construction vehicles scattered along the road next to the cleared border area, some of which appear as if they are building a large wall.
In the close-up below, a vehicle can be seen next to wall panels that appear to be lying on the floor, ready to be attached to the wall.
Image source: Maxar Technologies
In addition to the satellite images, photos and videos of the area taken and released by members of the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights also appear to show construction work.
The report also quoted a source familiar with the matter as saying that the construction work was being carried out with the aim of “accommodating refugees from Gaza in the event of a mass exodus of Gaza residents.”
Speaking to foreign reporters on Thursday, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was forceful on the matter: “The State of Israel has no intention of evacuating Palestinian civilians to Egypt.”
“We respect and value our peace agreement with Egypt, which represents a cornerstone of stability in the region and an important partner.”
Israel knows it cannot afford to appear to be driving Palestinians out of their land, but that does not mean it will stop people from leaving the country if they want to.
Israel would not stand in the way if Egypt were willing to accept around 100,000 refugees (as some estimates of the capacity of the enclosure constructed in Egypt's Sinai suggest).
UN officials are deeply concerned and fear a mass evacuation is imminent. “It looks like it's heading in that direction,” an official told the BBC on condition of anonymity.
Speaking to Portal at the Munich Security Conference, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned that a spillover of Rafah refugees into Egypt would be “a catastrophe for the Palestinians… a catastrophe for Egypt and a catastrophe for…” the future of peace “.
The expulsion to Egypt – what any evacuation across the border will feel like – touches on the deepest fears of Palestinians.
About 80% of Gaza's population is descended from refugees who fled or were expelled from their villages during Israel's War of Independence.
Leaving Gaza, the last fragment of their ancestral homeland, would feel to many like a repeat of what Palestinians call the “Naqba,” or catastrophe, of 1948.
Even if a refugee camp just across the border is described as a temporary shelter, the shock that would accompany their departure from Gaza is likely to be profound.
And while Israel may want to portray this as a voluntary move – in response to an Egyptian invitation – the Palestinians would have difficulty seeing it as anything other than another forced displacement, after more than four months of Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip.
The Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory reports that at least 28,775 people, mostly women and children, have been killed as a result of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Israel took action after Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 253 hostage in a surprise attack on its territory on October 7.