Egypt reacts for the first time to the proposal of Knesset members Ram Ben-Barak of Yesh Atid and Danny Danon of the Likud for the voluntary transfer of Gazans to countries around the world, with the aid and support of the United Nations, the Egyptians oppose the proposal and call it "irresponsible" and "contrary to international law".
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a first reference to the proposal published in the Wall Street Journal in a joint article written by Knesset member Danny Danon, and Knesset member Ram Ben-Barak. The proposal, which comes from two prominent members of the Knesset on both sides of the Israeli political barrier, calls on the countries of the world to accept a small number of approximately ten thousand Palestinian refugees from Gaza, who wish to leave the Strip for the wider world.
The article calls on the countries of the world to participate in the process of solving the problem of the Gaza Strip and to help Gazan families who live in a strip of land with no economic or political future, and defines the proposal as the only humanitarian solution for the Strip. The words of the article were supported by a number of Israeli officials, including Finance Minister Smotrich who vigorously supported the idea and called for its implementation as soon as possible for the sake of the Gazan population.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly opposed the proposal, defining it as an "attempt to resettle" the Palestinian population in Gaza and announced that they consider the proposal an "irresponsible idea" and that its implementation would constitute a "violation of international humanitarian law".
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry chose to frame the idea as one that initially came from Minister Smotrich's office, which is considered extreme in the international discourse, thereby facilitating criticism of the idea, and did not refer to the original article that came out in the hands of members of the Knesset who are considered moderate and on both sides of the political barrier in Israel.
Egypt announced that it does not accept any idea of "deportation", as she defined it, even though the proposal speaks of a voluntary transition, and "that it will continue to maintain the Palestinians' right to a state within the borders of 67."