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Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Wednesday rejected US President Donald Trump's declared wish to see Palestinians from Gaza move to “safer” locations, including Egypt or Jordan, saying this would amount to “an act of oppression”.
The Egyptian leader, whose country has been a close US ally for nearly 50 years, said Egypt was determined to work with Mr Trump “who wishes to achieve peace based on the two-state solution”.
He added: “We believe that President Trump is capable of achieving this long-awaited goal of realising a just and permanent peace in the Middle East.”
Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, although the Middle Easter neighbours have seen their relations sour since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
On Wednesday, Mr El Sisi repeated his warning that the Gaza war, sparked by a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel, had been an attempt by Israel to make life in the Palestinian enclave impossible as a prelude to evicting its population of 2.3 million.
The majority of homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged in Israel's military response to the attack, and most of its population displaced at least once.
The war was paused last week when Hamas and Israel accepted a deal brokered by mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US.
“What will I say to Egyptians if I am asked to move Palestinians to Egypt? If I am ever asked to do so, the people of Egypt will take to the streets to say 'no',” Mr El Sisi said. “Displacing or evicting them is an act of oppression that we can never be part of.”
Mr Trump repeated his desire to move Palestinians from Gaza to “safer” locations, including Egypt or Jordan, on Monday, after calling on the two US allies to take people from Gaza to “clean out the whole thing” at the weekend.
Mr El Sisi forged close relations with Mr Trump during his first term as US president from 2016 to 2020. He sent him a warm congratulatory message when he won the US presidential election in November, pointing out the strategic partnership between the two nations.
However, his comments on Wednesday laid bare fundamental differences over an issue that has been at the heart of regional politics for more than 70 years and which has grown over the years to be associated with Arab identity.
Egypt, the most populous Arab nation, fought Israel in four full-fledged wars between 1948 and 1973 and despite the 1979 treaty, Israel remains the number one enemy to most Egyptians.
“It's unimaginable to deviate from or relinquish in any way the foundations of the Egyptian position on the Palestinian question,” Mr El Sisi said in his televised comments. “They are based on creating a Palestinian state and safeguarding the pillars of that state, particularly its people and territory.
“I would like to reassure the Egyptian people that there can never be any leniency toward or tolerance for any breach of Egyptian national security. The solution is the two-state solution. These are historical rights that cannot be ignored.
“A historical oppression has befallen the Palestinians during the past 70 years. The solution is not the eviction of the Palestinians but the two-state solution.”
The comments were his first since Mr Trump floated his suggestion about moving Gazans. Jordan, which also has a peace treaty with Israel, has rejected the idea.
Mr Trump said on Saturday he planned to discuss his Gaza proposals with the Egyptian leader in a telephone call the next day. But there has been no confirmation from Cairo or Washington that it took place.
