Tuesday | 19th August 2025
Rafah, Egypt — The displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is a “red line” and Egypt will not permit any party to endanger its national security or sovereignty, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty declared on Monday.
In an exclusive interview with CNN from the northern Egyptian town of Al-Arish, near the Rafah crossing into Gaza, Abdelatty stressed that Cairo is pursuing multiple diplomatic and humanitarian channels with one central goal: to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people. However, he underscored that large-scale forced migration of Palestinians out of Gaza is an absolute non-starter for Egypt.
“We will not accept it, we will not participate in it, and we will not allow it to happen,” Abdelatty said firmly. He argued that displacement would effectively become a “one-way ticket” out of Gaza for its residents, a scenario that would ultimately amount to the “liquidation” of the Palestinian cause.
The Israeli government has yet to put forward a clear postwar plan for Gaza’s future. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several Israeli officials have repeatedly raised the prospect of relocating Palestinians abroad. The idea gained traction earlier this year after then–U.S. President Donald Trump floated the notion of third-country resettlement for Gazans. Although Trump later appeared to step back from the plan, Israeli leaders have continued to promote it in various forms.
For Egypt, the stakes are high. Gaza’s only external gateway not controlled by Israel is through Egypt’s Rafah crossing, placing Cairo in a uniquely sensitive position. Israel has imposed a blockade by land, sea, and air since 2007, leaving Egypt as the sole potential lifeline. But the flow of humanitarian aid has been repeatedly obstructed, with Cairo accusing Israel of deliberately slowing or blocking the entry of food, fuel, and medicine. Thousands of trucks have been stranded on the Egyptian side of the border, fueling public anger across the Arab world and intensifying scrutiny on Egypt’s role.
When asked whether the ongoing conflict could jeopardize the landmark 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty—the first of its kind between Israel and an Arab nation—Abdelatty stressed that Cairo remains committed to honoring its obligations. However, he issued a stark warning: “Any kind of displacement would be a big risk, and we will not allow any single party to risk our national security and our sovereignty at our border.”
His comments rank among the sharpest rebukes Egypt has issued since Israel confirmed last week that it was in contact with several countries about accepting Palestinians displaced by the war. Abdelatty cautioned that if Israel were to succeed in uprooting Gaza’s population, “that will be the end of the Palestinian cause.”
Reports suggest that Israel has approached countries including South Sudan, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Libya, and Indonesia about potentially resettling Palestinians. According to a senior Israeli official speaking to CNN, these governments have asked for “significant financial and international compensation” in exchange.
Yet, the viability of such arrangements remains highly uncertain. South Sudan has already dismissed reports of negotiations as “baseless.” Indonesia has signaled willingness to admit up to 2,000 Palestinians, but only for temporary medical treatment, with the expectation they will return to Gaza afterward. Somaliland, too, has denied engaging in any talks.
For now, Abdelatty’s message was unambiguous: Egypt will not allow Gaza’s crisis to be solved at the expense of Palestinian nationhood or Egyptian security.
No partner for peace
Abdelatty emphasized that Egypt continues to maintain security and intelligence-level communication with Israel, but he lamented the lack of political will from Israel’s leadership to move toward peace.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a partner in Israel right now for peace and the two-state solution,” he told CNN. “We have ministers in the Israeli cabinet who do not believe in the two-state solution.”
The Egyptian foreign minister was alluding to Israel’s far-right ministers, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom have repeatedly called for intensifying military operations in Gaza and promoting the mass emigration of Palestinians from the enclave. Their hardline positions have drawn widespread criticism, with human rights groups and Palestinian officials accusing them of advocating policies amounting to ethnic cleansing.
Despite this hardened Israeli stance, Abdelatty noted that negotiations for a ceasefire and a hostage-prisoner exchange deal are still underway. He revealed that “a sort of understanding on most of the building issues” had been reached regarding the latest proposal drafted by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The talks, however, have faced repeated breakdowns. Just last month, both the U.S. and Israeli negotiating teams withdrew from Qatar, where indirect discussions with Hamas had been hosted. At the time, Witkoff accused Hamas of showing “a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire” in its latest response.
Abdelatty said Egypt continues to push for a comprehensive deal that would not only halt the war but also secure the release of Israeli hostages, free Palestinian prisoners, and ensure that humanitarian aid can flow unobstructed into Gaza. However, he criticized Israel’s insistence on an immediate disarmament of Hamas as an “impossible” condition in the current circumstances.
“Israel is insisting on disarming Hamas now. Who will do it? How can we do it on the ground?” he asked rhetorically, pointing out that Israel has failed to achieve this goal despite nearly two years of relentless bombardment and military operations. “We need to push now (for a deal),” he added.
Abdelatty confirmed that a Hamas delegation is currently in Cairo for ongoing talks, which also involve Qatari, American, and Israeli interlocutors. He stressed that the opportunity for progress remains within reach if there is genuine commitment from all sides: “We can have a deal if we have political will.”
‘Once you’re here… you cannot leave’
On Monday, CNN reporters at the Rafah crossing observed dozens of aid trucks lining the roads on the Egyptian side, waiting for entry into the Gaza Strip. Many of the convoys have been stuck in limbo for weeks, sometimes even months, leaving critical supplies stranded in the desert heat. As a result, food shipments—including flour, rice, and canned goods—often spoil before they can reach families in Gaza who are facing acute hunger and malnutrition.
According to Abdelatty, the bottleneck has grown so severe that as many as 5,000 trucks are now waiting in northern Sinai. “The Israelis are not allowing them to enter,” he said, underscoring Cairo’s frustration with what it views as deliberate obstruction by Israel.
Several truck drivers echoed that frustration in interviews with CNN, describing grueling conditions and endless delays. Three drivers said they had already been waiting for over a week for clearance to move forward.
Medhat Mohamed, a father of three, said his truckload of food was rejected last Wednesday by the Israeli military, forcing him to turn back after spending more than three weeks parked near the border. “Once you’re here with your truck, you cannot leave,” he explained. “Either your aid gets approved and you leave, or you stay next to your truck – that might take weeks, or even months.”
Despite the hardship, Mohamed insisted that the sacrifice was worth it. “This is not about money—we can get a lot of money from work in Cairo,” he said. “We’re here because we want to help in any way we can the people in Gaza.”
Another driver, Mohamed Fawzy, told CNN he had been transporting intensive care unit (ICU) beds, but his convoy was turned away four separate times by Israeli authorities.
Aid workers say the rejections are often arbitrary. Amal Imam, the executive director of the Egyptian Red Crescent, confirmed that the ICU beds, along with other items, had already received preliminary Israeli approval before being blocked at the crossing. She said the shipments were later rejected on the grounds that they contained metals and plastic—materials Israel claims could be diverted for military use by Hamas.
Such justifications, aid groups argue, ignore the urgent humanitarian needs inside Gaza, where hospitals have been devastated by airstrikes, medical equipment is in critically short supply, and thousands of patients are in need of advanced care. The restrictions have left both aid organizations and truck drivers in a state of paralysis, unable to deliver life-saving supplies despite the desperate demand across the border.