ANKARA

Egypt categorically denied on Monday media reports claiming that it will accept displaced Palestinians from Gaza in exchange for economic aid.

In a statement, the State Information Service (SIS) stressed that the displacement of Gazans “represents a liquidation of the Palestinian cause and an imminent threat to Egyptian national security."

It reiterated Egypt’s absolute rejection “of any attempt to forcibly or voluntarily displace Palestinians from Gaza to any location outside the enclave, particularly to Egypt."

“The Egyptian foreign policy has never been based on bargaining supreme Egyptian and Arab interests for anything, whatever its type,” it stressed.

“Egypt has willingly and patiently borne enormous economic and financial burdens as a result - burdens that have never, at any point, compelled it to make any concession, however minor, in terms of its national security or the broader security of the Arab world, nor in regard to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”

On Friday, Egypt dismissed Israeli media reports alleging that Cairo is preparing to temporarily relocate 500,000 Palestinians to a designated city in North Sinai as part of a plan to rebuild Gaza.

The Israeli army launched a surprise aerial campaign on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing at least 730 people and injuring nearly 1,200 others despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 113,200 injured in a brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.