I got an email from Haaretz with the above headline. On google search, the title has been changed to: “Egypt Reportedly Constructing Walled-off Area on Gaza ...” [I presume the rest of the headline remains the same]
The google blurb is:
Egypt is preparing an area at the Gaza border which could accommodate Palestinians in case an Israeli offensive into Rafah prompts an exodus across the frontier, four sources said, in what they described as a contingency move by Cairo. 6 hours ago [a/o Feb 16, 10am]
I hope the above is a live link
I don’t have a subscription to Haaretz, so I went to Aljazeera for more:
Satellite photos show Egypt building Gaza wall as Israel’s Rafah push looms
Despite its opposition to displacement of Palestinians, Cairo appears to be preparing for a scenario forced by Israel.
Quotes:
Israel has said it wants to take over the Philadelphi Corridor, the fortified border area between Gaza and Egypt, to secure it. Egypt has threatened that this would jeopardise the peace treaty the two countries signed four decades ago. …
US President Joe Biden “has been clear that we do not support the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza”, Reuters quoted a US Department of State spokesperson as saying on Friday. “The US is not funding camps in Egypt for displaced Palestinians.” [emphasis added]
Since, iirc, Blinken was on an unsuccessful mission earlier this year to convince Egypt [or others?] to accept evacuees from Gaza to get them away from battle, I strongly suspect USA is either funding this or telling Egypt they will reimburse expenses. One or more of the 3 electeds that so-call “represent” me in DC mentioned they support such a “humanitarian” action, implying that the evacuation would be temporary.
Not how I want my taxmoney spent.
On top of the ethnic cleansing and the predictable death toll of yet another forced march, ... all that concrete is very polluting. Gotta have concrete and razor wire to contain people. Concrete has a very high carbon imprint. The more these escalating wars escalate the faster we will see even higher climate consequences.
Thank you for reading and adding quotes from paywalled news sources you have access to. I desperately hope that all the carbon impact of the concrete is for nothing and there is ceasefire and bottlenecks unstuck and aid gets in and hostages can be exchanged [which can’t happen when bombs & sniping is happening]. Let Gaza live :’-(