Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has firmly rejected any plans to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, emphasizing Egypt’s opposition to moves that could undermine the Palestinian cause. His remarks came on Wednesday during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo.
Sisi reaffirmed Egypt’s position against the forced displacement of Palestinians or any effort to erase their cause, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA. Abbas, in turn, praised Egypt’s consistent support for Palestinian rights and reiterated that Gaza remains an integral part of the Palestinian state.
The statements followed comments by Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz earlier on Wednesday. Katz said the Israeli military would “finish the job” in Gaza, referring to plans he described as a “migration plan” aiming to relocate Gaza’s roughly two million residents. He indicated that Israel was prepared to remove Palestinians from Gaza by both sea and land but was awaiting discussions with the United States regarding their potential destination.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee denied any plans to forcibly displace Gaza’s population. Meanwhile, Gaza has suffered extensive devastation after three years of ongoing conflict, which began with a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of over 1,200 Israelis according to Israeli official figures. The subsequent war has caused more than 73,700 Palestinian deaths and led to the internal displacement of nearly all Gaza residents, with much of the territory now in ruins.
Egypt shares the only land border with Gaza that is not controlled by Israel and has consistently refused proposals to allow Palestinian displacement into the Sinai Peninsula. In 2025, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty disclosed that Egypt had rejected multiple offers to forgive parts of its foreign debt in return for permitting the mass relocation of Gazans.
In addition to the Gaza situation, Abbas briefed Sisi on developments in the occupied West Bank, focusing on Israel’s approval last year of the E1 settlement plan, which would geographically separate the northern and southern West Bank and further isolate east Jerusalem from Palestinian areas. This plan has drawn widespread international criticism. The United Nations Secretary-General has described it as posing an existential threat to the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously stated that Israeli forces would not withdraw from Gaza despite a U.S.-backed ceasefire plan implemented in October 2025, which stipulated withdrawal as a condition.
The situation highlights ongoing tensions in the region, with Egypt maintaining its support for Palestinian rights and opposing displacement, while Israeli officials continue to discuss security and territorial considerations in Gaza and the West Bank.