With Israel sounding warnings and gearing up for ground assault, hundreds of Gazans along with their families are taking the main road from north to south Gaza. Meanwhile, mosque broadcast messages were put out urging the residents to stay at their homes.
"Hold on to your homes. Hold on to your land," said the messages.
The leaders of the Hamas also urged Palestinians to ignore Israeli’s call and stay put at their homes. With many Palestinians fleeing the land, authorities fear ‘second Nakba’.
‘Nakba’ is an Arabic word for catastrophe and in this context it refers to the 1948 war of Israel that led to a mass dispossession claiming over thousands of lives and displacing millions of people.
“Evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told civilians.
With almost all the borders closed, Gazans are left with very limited options to seek safety.
Gaza, a tiny coastal strip of land wedged between Israel in the north and east and Egypt to the southwest. Since Hamas took over control in Gaza in 2007 all the borders were closed for the Palestinians. The most obvious exit for the Gazans would be Egypt, which Cairo is not very keen to entertain.
Egypt is already giving refuge to over 3,00,000 Sudanese migrated due to economic crisis. According to authorities, accomodating Gazans too would be “too much to bear”.
Egypt has been always in the forefront for mediations between Israel and Palestine. They have always insisted on the two sides to resolve conflicts within their borders.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said at a military academy that: "This is the cause of all causes, the cause of all Arabs. It is important that the (Palestinian) people remain steadfast and present on their land. We will expend all efforts to alleviate (the burden) on them.”
Meanwhile, Egypt has discussed plans with United States and others to provide humanitarian aid through its border but rejects any move for refugees fleeing the enclave.
Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman that he "rejects the forced displacement" of Palestinians in Gaza. He said such an event would constitute a "second Nakba".
Egypt fears a mass exodus of refugees
Hoping to avert a mass exodus into Sinai Peninsula, Egypt has been desperately trying to negotiate with the entry of humanitarian aid through its crossing.
However, mediations so far was no successful as Israel has not responded to its efforts.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Cairo over the weekend and Egyptian officials are expected to discuss the entry of aid with him.
Since Israel has sealed off the Gaza Strip, stopping all entry of food, water, medicine and fuel, Egypt’s Rafah crossing is the only way out for the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the repeated airstrikes by Israel led to the temporary closing of the crossing. Egypt’s Foreign Minister had said that aid trucks from the Egyptian side was stopped due to the airstrikes close to the border.
Though Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called for access through Rafah in a speech on Thursday he also pushed back against letting in large numbers of Palestinians.
He also pointed out that Egypt already hosts some 9 million refugees.
The US focus on Egypt has been on getting Palestinians with dual nationality out through Rafah if they wish, reported the Associated Press. Though promises were made that Gazans would be allowed to be back after the war is over, it is definitely to put pressure on Egypt’s border.