GAZA: Egypt categorically denied allegations of participating in any process involving the displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip into the Sinai Peninsula, the country’s State Information Service (SIS) said on Friday.
Four sources told Reuters that Egypt, as a precautionary measure, 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.
The news was also reported by other outlets, including the Wall Street Journal.
“Egypt’s decisive stance since the beginning of the aggression ... is to completely reject any forced or voluntary displacement of Palestinian brothers from the Gaza Strip to outside it, especially to Egyptian territory,” Diaa Rashwan, the SIS head, said in a statement.
He said such scenario would entail “a definite liquidation of the Palestinian cause and a direct threat to Egyptian sovereignty and national security.”
The Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, an activist organization, published images on Monday it said showed construction trucks and cranes working in the area and images of concrete barriers along the border.
“Egypt has already had a buffer zone and barriers in this area for a long time before the current crisis erupted. These are measures taken by any country in the world to preserve the security of its borders and its sovereignty over its territories,” Rahswan added.
Describing any sort of displacement as a “crime advocated by some Israeli parties,” Rashwan said Egypt will take all necessary measures to stop it.
Earlier this week, Egypt hosted talks involving the US, Israel and Qatar on a possible Gaza truce. An Egyptian source said the country was optimistic that talks to clinch a ceasefire can avoid the prospect of displacement.
Egypt denies allegations of participating in any process involving displacement of Gazans into Sinai
https://arab.news/pr3ff
Egypt denies allegations of participating in any process involving displacement of Gazans into Sinai
Shrapnel from bombing kills woman in Iraq: health, security officials
KUT: Shrapnel killed a woman following a strike on an arms depot belonging to an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq, health and security officials told AFP.
A security source said “a bombing targeted an arms depot at a military base,” which mainly hosts the powerful Asaib Ahl Al-Haq group, near the town of Al-Suwaira, southeast of Baghdad.
He added that “a woman was martyred when shrapnel from a rocket fell near her after the strike” in the town in Wasit province.
A local health official confirmed her death and said another person was seriously wounded.
The military base belongs to the Hashed Al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Forces, a former paramilitary coalition now integrated into Iraq’s regular army.
It also encompasses brigades from Iran-backed groups, including the US-blacklisted Asaib Ahl Al-Haq.
Since the start of the Middle East war, bases belonging to the Hashed Al-Shaabi have been hit several times by strikes blamed on the US and Israel.
At least 20 fighters have been killed so far, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the armed groups.
Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, had said it did not want to be dragged into the war, but it has not been spared.
The US designates several Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups as terrorist organizations.
Some of these groups hold seats in parliament and have seen their political and financial clout increase, such as Asaib Ahl Al-Haq.
