Egypt in a tricky spot as Israel's assault on Gaza continues

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Sunday said Egypt has the view that Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip had "exceeded the right to self-defence" and amounted to collective punishment.

He recently hosted United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cairo where they discussed the ongoing crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel, reports Al Jazeera. 

Egypt's priority was to end the violence and provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians trapped in Gaza, said the Egyptian president.

Small moves in Sinai, demonstrations in Cairo

Egypt has opened up its airport in El Arish to receive international assistance for the besieged people of Gaza, with planes arriving from Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

Combined with donations from Egypt, they have been loaded into more than 100 trucks, which are lined up in the northern Sinai Peninsula and ready to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. A blood donation campaign was initiated by the Egyptian government, with donation centres set up in all governorates.

After negotiations with the United States and others, Egypt agreed to a swap that would allow binational Palestinians trapped in a blockaded enclave on Egyptian territory to leave in return for Israel's safe passage for humanitarian aid. 

However, there was no movement on either side of the border as Egypt was informed on Saturday that Israel had denied safe passage to humanitarian trucks.

In response, Egypt denied entry to Gazans with dual nationality on the grounds that their exit from Gaza was contingent on Israel allowing a humanitarian convoy to enter the enclave.

The exact number of Palestinians with dual nationality stranded in Rafah is unclear. According to the American government, between 500 and 600 American passport holders are stranded in the Gaza Strip. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna will visit Cairo on Monday and is expected to discuss whether to allow dual citizenship to leave Gaza, given the presence of several French citizens there.

Over time, photos emerged on social media showing Egyptian workers building concrete blocks on their side of the Rafah border crossing on Saturday.

Observers have noted that Egypt is wary of the Rafah border crossing, and on Tuesday the news site Al Ahram Online quoted sources as saying "certain parties and forces" were planning to forcibly expel Palestinians from their land and resettle them in Sinai.

The Palestinian cause has long enjoyed widespread support in Egypt, which made officials nervous about the reaction and was reflected in the content of sermons after Friday prayers.

According to independent media outlet Mada Masr, the government feared "chaos" that could result from overzealous Friday sermons, including those from Al-Azhar, Egypt's theological authority and Cairo's most famous mosque.

In addition to Friday prayers, there were numerous demonstrations in support of Palestine in Egypt throughout the week. A conference of the Egyptian Journalists Association is planned for tomorrow to present the weekly report on the Israeli army's crimes against journalists, which have so far resulted in the deaths of ten Palestinian journalists and one Lebanese journalist.

The lawyers' syndicate has a support rally planned for Monday as well.

Egypt's national security 'red line'

For some observers, this reflects Egypt's concerns about the large influx of Palestinian refugees into Sinai.

However, according to local sources, Egypt is not so much interested in blocking traffic as in securing the border, which has been devastated by recent Israeli bombings. In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said "the border crossing on the Palestinian side is closed due to the recent bombings" and that Egypt will evacuate foreigners "in consultation with relevant embassies" once the infrastructure is repaired . . .

The country is also waiting for an agreement with Israel on the transport of humanitarian aid. But regardless of Egypt's intentions, the concentration of people near the Rafah border crossing could lead to increased tensions as the Palestinians move closer to the Egyptian border.

Calls came from Egypt for the government to open the Gaza border crossing after Israel ordered the relocation of more than a million residents in the south, near the border. But Cairo was cautious.

"Egypt's national security is my most important responsibility and I will not neglect it under any circumstances," Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said on Wednesday.

El-Sisi, who sees himself as a natural mediator, has publicly doubted that in the event of a mass expulsion in Egypt, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians would be able to return to their homeland, as in previous conflicts. Egypt's National Security Council reiterated these views during its meeting on Sunday, where it reiterated that Egypt's national security is its top priority and stated that everything that concerns it represents a "red line."

The government also clearly expressed its "rejection and condemnation of any resettlement or liquidation of the Palestinian cause to the detriment of neighboring countries" and proposed a regional summit on the "development and future of the Palestinian cause."