Ibrahim Khazen and Betul Yilmaz
31 January 2025•Update: 31 January 2025
CAIRO
Thousands of Egyptians gathered in front of the Rafah border crossing on Friday to protest US President Donald Trump's proposal to resettle Palestinians in other countries, Egyptian media reported.
Crowds from other Egyptian governorates flocked to the border to protest Trump's remarks about Palestinian displacement last week, which were also dismissed by several European and Arab countries.
Before Friday's rally at the Rafah border, according to social media footage, several Egyptian governorates, including Beheira, Kafr el Sheikh, Gharbia, Ismailia, Sharqia, Qalyubia, and Beni Suef, held public protests Thursday evening against the displacement of Palestinians.
According to an Anadolu correspondent, this is the first rally at the Rafah border since Trump proposed on Jan. 25 to simply "clean out" the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in Jordan and Egypt, describing the coastal enclave as a "demolition site" following Israel's genocidal war.
While Egyptian responses have avoided directly addressing Trump, officials have consistently condemned any attempt to expel Palestinians from their homeland.
The Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday condemning the plan, which was followed by comments from Parliament Speaker Hanafy Jebali on Monday and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared on Wednesday that his country will not participate in any forced displacement of Palestinians, calling it an “act of injustice we cannot tolerate," and reaffirmed his country's commitment to a two-state solution.
Many countries, including Jordan, Iraq, France, and Germany, as well as organizations like the League of Arab States, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, and the UN, have strongly opposed the resettlement plan.
Trump's proposal came after a ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, suspending Israel’s genocidal war that has killed more than 47,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year 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.
