Sinai Foundation Exposes Egypt’s Construction of Buffer Zone near Gaza Border
Watan-The Sinai Foundation for Human Rights has published new footage showing the Egyptian authorities’ continued construction of a security buffer zone surrounded by walls covering an area of 19 square kilometers in the Egyptian city of Rafah in eastern Sinai.
The footage illustrates the preparation of the soil for placing the cement wall panels near the border fence separating Egypt and Israel.
The Egyptian authorities respond
The new images corroborate what the Foundation had previously reported, based on relevant sources later confirmed by international media outlets, regarding Egypt’s initiation of the construction of an isolated area surrounded by walls along the border with the Gaza Strip, with the aim of accommodating refugees “in the event of a mass displacement of Gaza residents.”
Egyptian authorities respond, denying any such initiative regarding the construction of an isolation wall along its borders with the Gaza Strip. The head of the General Intelligence Service emphasized that Egypt has had a buffer zone and walls in this area for a long time before the current crisis erupted, as part of measures taken by any country to maintain border security and sovereignty over its territory.
حصلت مؤسسة سيناء على مواد مصورة حصرية بتاريخ اليوم 16 فبراير، تظهر استمرار السلطات المصرية في بناء منطقة أمنية عازلة محاطة بأسوار بمساحة 19 كم مربع، في مدينة رفح المصرية شرقي سيناء، حيث توضح الصور وصول عملية تجهيز التربة لوضع الجدار المكون من قوالب اسمنتية جاهزة بالقرب من السياج… pic.twitter.com/zRO4x9Rvxj
— Sinai for Human Rights (@Sinaifhr) February 16, 2024
Details of the Palestinian evacuation plan
The American newspaper “The Wall Street Journal” reported that Egyptian officials and security analysts stated that the Egyptian authorities are constructing a walled camp covering an area of eight square miles in the Sinai Desert, near the border with the Gaza Strip, out of fear that an anticipated Israeli operation in Rafah would lead to a flood of refugees into Egyptian territory.
The newspaper stated that the massive complex being built by Egypt is “part of emergency plans” if a large number of Gaza residents manage to cross the border into Egypt.
Egyptian officials told the newspaper that this camp could accommodate 100,000 people, surrounded by concrete walls and located away from Egyptian residential areas.
Egyptian officials further explained to the newspaper that if a large number of Palestinians were to leave Gaza and enter Egyptian territory, Egypt intends to “impose restrictions on the number of refugees, to be less than the camp’s capacity, ideally ranging from 50,000 to 60,000 people.”
