CAIRO: Egyptians reacted with fury on Tuesday to US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan, while downplaying his threat to cut aid to both countries if they refuse.
The state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper ran a front-page headline declaring “Egypt urges the world to end historical injustice against the Palestinian people,” while the private daily Al-Masry Al-Youm wrote, “Palestinian anger: Gaza is not for sale.”
On X, the hashtag “on the shoe” — a common Egyptian phrase meaning “we could not care less” — began to trend in response to what many saw as an attempt at intimidation.
The phrase can be traced back to a historic speech by late president Gamal Abdel Nasser, who dismissed US aid threats during Egypt’s wars with Israel.
On Monday, a strongly worded statement from Egypt’s foreign ministry rejected “any compromise” that could infringe on Palestinians’ rights, including to remain on their land.
The statement followed a meeting in Washington between Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty and his US counterpart Marco Rubio.
During a phone call with the Danish prime minister on Tuesday, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that the establishment of a Palestinian state is “the only guarantee for achieving lasting peace” in the region.
The Egyptian leader also called for the reconstruction of Gaza “without displacing” its residents, according to a statement from his office.
Trump, speaking on Monday, said the United States could “conceivably” halt assistance to Egypt and Jordan unless they agree to take in Palestinians from Gaza — a proposal Cairo and Amman have repeatedly rejected.
The US provides its regional ally Egypt with around $1.3 billion in military aid annually, making it one of the country’s largest foreign donors.
According to US government data, Egypt received roughly $1.5 billion in both military and economic assistance from the United States last year.
Hussein Haridi, a former diplomat and assistant foreign minister, downplayed the significance of US aid, arguing that it would not sway Egypt’s position on Gaza.
“This small amount (about $200 million) in economic aid will not affect the Egyptian economy,” Haridi told AFP.
“Regardless of its impact, we will not bow to Trump’s threats,” he said.
Haridi also said that Trump had little understanding of “the true character of Egyptians” and the country’s historical role in defending Arab interests and in particular the Palestinian cause.
“We do not care about Trump’s threats. Egypt is fully prepared to confront them and these threats will backfire on US interests in the region.”
“This is not just El-Sisi’s stance or the Egyptian government’s stance — it is the stance of the Egyptian people,” he added.
Gamal Bayoumi, a former diplomat and assistant foreign minister, meanwhile, told AFP that Egypt has made its stance clear: any attempt to force Palestinians out of Gaza “will be considered an act of war.”
Bayoumi added that Egypt was well prepared for any measures Washington might take, including a potential halt to financial assistance.
Among ordinary Egyptians, the Trump plan provoked outrage.
“After bombing and killing them, they now want to displace them?” said Samir Gomaa, a 71-year-old garage owner in Cairo.
“This is Palestinian land. Who in their right mind sells land that isn’t theirs and turns it into a tourist project?,” Gomaa told AFP.
Despite Egypt’s economic struggles, including soaring inflation and mounting debt, many citizens expressed support for El-Sisi’s stance.
“Our president is a hero for saying no, even though we’re struggling with inflation,” said Mohamed Abdel Tawab, 53, a paper trader.
“The Arab world will rebuild Gaza and Egypt will stand firm,” he said.
Since early in the Gaza war, which began in October 2023 with Hamas’s attack on Israel, officials and lawmakers in Egypt have repeatedly warned against any attempts to alter the region’s demographics, seeing it as a national security threat.
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Egyptians furious over Trump’s Gaza plan, downplay aid threat
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Egyptians furious over Trump’s Gaza plan, downplay aid threat
- Hashtag “on the shoe” — common Egyptian phrase meaning “we could not care less” — began to trend in response to what many saw as intimidation attempt
Syrian army declares a closed military zone east of Aleppo as tensions rise with Kurds
ALEPPO, Syria: The Syrian army on Tuesday declared an area east of the northern city of Aleppo a “closed military zone,” potentially signaling another escalation between government forces and fighters with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Several days of clashes in the city of Aleppo last week that displaced tens of thousands of people came to an end over the weekend with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters from the contested neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud.
Since then, Syrian officials have accused the SDF of building up its forces near the towns of Maskana and Deir Hafer, about 60 km (37 mi) east of Aleppo city, something the SDF denied.
State news agency SANA reported that the army had declared the area a closed military zone because of “continued mobilization” by the SDF “and because it serves as a launching point for Iranian suicide drones that have targeted the city of Aleppo.”
On Saturday afternoon, an explosive drone hit the Aleppo governorate building shortly after two Cabinet ministers and a local official held a news conference on the developments in the city. The SDF denied being behind the attack.
The army statement Tuesday said armed groups should withdraw to the area east of the Euphrates River.
The tensions come amid an impasse in political negotiations between the central state and the SDF.
The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa signed a deal in March with the SDF, which controls much of the northeast, for it to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025. There have been disagreements on how it would happen.
Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkiye-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The SDF has for years been the main US partner in Syria in fighting against the Daesh group, but Turkiye considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkiye. A peace process is now underway.
Despite the long-running US support for the SDF, the Trump administration in the US has also developed close ties with Al-Sharaa’s government and has pushed the Kurds to implement the March deal.
Shams TV, a station based in Irbil, the seat of northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, had been set to air an interview with Al-Sharaa on Monday but later announced it had been postponed for “technical” reasons without giving a new date for airing it.
Several days of clashes in the city of Aleppo last week that displaced tens of thousands of people came to an end over the weekend with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters from the contested neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud.
Since then, Syrian officials have accused the SDF of building up its forces near the towns of Maskana and Deir Hafer, about 60 km (37 mi) east of Aleppo city, something the SDF denied.
State news agency SANA reported that the army had declared the area a closed military zone because of “continued mobilization” by the SDF “and because it serves as a launching point for Iranian suicide drones that have targeted the city of Aleppo.”
On Saturday afternoon, an explosive drone hit the Aleppo governorate building shortly after two Cabinet ministers and a local official held a news conference on the developments in the city. The SDF denied being behind the attack.
The army statement Tuesday said armed groups should withdraw to the area east of the Euphrates River.
The tensions come amid an impasse in political negotiations between the central state and the SDF.
The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa signed a deal in March with the SDF, which controls much of the northeast, for it to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025. There have been disagreements on how it would happen.
Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkiye-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The SDF has for years been the main US partner in Syria in fighting against the Daesh group, but Turkiye considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkiye. A peace process is now underway.
Despite the long-running US support for the SDF, the Trump administration in the US has also developed close ties with Al-Sharaa’s government and has pushed the Kurds to implement the March deal.
Shams TV, a station based in Irbil, the seat of northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, had been set to air an interview with Al-Sharaa on Monday but later announced it had been postponed for “technical” reasons without giving a new date for airing it.
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