Only Egypt can stop expected massacre in Rafah, Palestinian official says

Egypt is the only country that can stand in the face of the Israeli occupation’s threats of a military operation in Rafah and the massacre of displaced Palestinians there, since the operation affects Cairo’s national security, Quds Press reported an Palestinian official as saying.

The unnamed source called on “the Egyptian leadership to visit the Palestinian-Egyptian border to see directly the risks affecting Arab national security” and to “immediately move to thwart the military operation and the plans of the Nazi occupation.”

“The [Isreali] occupation’s threats to launch a military operation in Rafah expose more than one and a half million displaced people to genocide,” the statement said, pointing out that “the battle will be at Egypt’s gates, and this will threaten Egyptian sovereignty and national security… and will have major repercussions on the entire region.”

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The leading source warned against “implementing the [Israeli] occupation’s plans to displace the Palestinian people, affirming that the Palestinians in Gaza will not accept displacement, neither forcibly nor voluntarily.”

“The [Palestinians] will remain steadfast on their land, and will only return to the homes from which they were displaced,”  he added.

On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal quoted Egyptian officials as saying that Cairo had warned Tel Aviv that it would suspend the bilateral peace treaty if Israel forces Palestinians out of Gaza and into Egypt.

Israel launched an air campaign on Rafah overnight, killing nearly 50 Palestinians. The city had been declared a “safe zone” by occupation forces and over a million Palestinians had taken shelter there after being forced out of their homes in the northern areas of the Strip since 7 October.

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