CAIRO, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) — Egypt today denied reports that it is building shelters in its border area with the Gaza Strip to accommodate Palestinians in the event of forced relocation due to the current conflict.
In a statement, Egyptian State Information Service (SIS) head Diaa Rashwan said Egypt categorically denies “what some international media have reported” about Egypt's preparations to build emergency shelters along its border with Gaza to accommodate Palestinians fleeing the conflict to record.
Rashwan stressed that Egypt rejects any forced or voluntary expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip abroad, especially to Egyptian areas.
The expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza is “a certain solution to the Palestinian question” and a direct threat to Egypt’s sovereignty and national security.
“All Egyptian statements clearly state that this is a red line and that Cairo has the means to address it immediately and effectively,” the Egyptian official said.
Rashwan also dismissed some international media reports that Egypt had started building a separation wall along its border with Gaza, saying Egypt already had a buffer zone and fences in that region before the current crisis began.
Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, has been a key regional peacemaker in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict for years. End