Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Egypt on Friday of “imprisoning in opposition to their will residents in Gaza who need to depart a warfare zone.” The assertion from the Prime Minister’s Workplace got here after Cairo slammed Netanyahu for saying earlier that he would let Palestinians depart the Strip by means of the Rafah Border Crossing in the event that they wished to take action, however they might be blocked by Egypt on the opposite aspect.
Egypt’s overseas ministry expressed its “utmost condemnation” of the feedback Netanyahu made throughout an interview Thursday with “Abu Ali Categorical,” a preferred, anonymously run Arab affairs channel on the Telegram messaging app.
“The feedback attributed to Netanyahu relating to the uprooting of Palestinians from their land, together with by means of the Rafah Crossing, are an try to extend the escalation and instability, and keep away from confronting the results of Israeli violations in Gaza,” the assertion mentioned.
In response, Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned the prime minister was “talking concerning the free will of each single individual in selecting the place to stay. That’s a fundamental human proper at any time — particularly wartime,” learn the assertion.
Additionally Friday, Egypt’s overseas minister advised reporters in Cyprus that Egypt is not going to tolerate the mass displacement of Palestinians and repeated the cost that Israel is committing genocide.
“Displacement isn’t an choice and it’s a purple line for Egypt and we is not going to permit it to occur,” Egyptian International Minister Badr Abdelatty mentioned.
“Displacement means liquidation and the top of the Palestinian trigger and there’s no authorized or ethical or moral floor to evict folks from their homeland,” he added.
“What is occurring on the bottom is way past the creativeness. There’s a genocide in movement there, mass killing of civilians, synthetic hunger created by the Israelis,” Cairo’s high diplomat added.
Egypt’s International Minister Badr Abdelatty attends an Arab officers’ assembly in Riyadh on January 12, 2025. (Fayez Nureldine / AFP)
Qatar, which like Egypt is mediating hostage-ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, on Friday additionally condemned Netanyahu’s remarks “relating to his need to displace Palestinians, contemplating them an extension of the occupation’s strategy to violating the rights of the brotherly Palestinian folks, its contempt for worldwide regulation and agreements, and its toxic efforts to dam alternatives for peace, particularly the two-state answer.”
Israel adamantly rejects the accusations that it’s inflicting hunger in Gaza and committing a genocide there, saying it makes efforts to facilitate humanitarian help and to keep away from civilian casualties. It blames Hamas for preventing amongst civilian populations and accuses it of stealing assist.
Talking with “Abu Ali Categorical,” Netanyahu had mentioned half of the Gaza Strip’s residents need to depart the devastated territory, a declare roughly borne out by a Might survey.
The complete unique interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with subtitles in English. pic.twitter.com/lVkAQWMMAq
— Abu Ali (@Abualiexpress) September 5, 2025
“I can open the [Rafah] crossing for them, however they’ll be blocked… instantly by Egypt,” mentioned Netanyahu. “We’re not looking for to expel [Palestinians], however to lock them in? By pressure? All of the human rights warriors — the place are you?”
“In terms of one thing that serves Israel, there are not any human rights. Even when it’s about giving the essential proper to each Palestinian, to go away,” he mentioned.
Israel and Egypt have imposed various levels of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized energy from rival Palestinian forces in 2007 in a violent coup. Israel says it’s essential to restrict Hamas’s means to smuggle in arms with which to assault the Jewish state. Critics of the blockade say it quantities to collective punishment of Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.
Palestinians carry humanitarian assist that they gathered after an assist drop, as they stroll within the al-Mawasi space of Rafah within the southern Gaza Strip on August 18, 2025. (AFP)
To keep away from a surge in refugees, Egypt closed its border with Gaza after Israel seized the Gaza aspect of the Rafah border crossing final yr, seven months into the warfare sparked on October 7, 2023, when Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 folks and take 251 hostages. Israel mentioned it was crucial for it to regulate the Egypt-Gaza border as a result of Hamas was smuggling weapons into the Strip.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa (L) and Egypt’s International Minister Badr Abdelatty (C) attend a press convention on the Egyptian aspect of the Rafah border crossing, August 18, 2025. (Khaled Desouki / AFP)
Following the outbreak of the warfare, Egypt constructed a concrete border wall that reaches six meters into the bottom and is topped with barbed wire. Egypt has additionally constructed berms and enhanced surveillance at border posts, safety sources mentioned.
As Israel launches a brand new offensive to seize Gaza Metropolis, Egypt has once more apparently bolstered its forces alongside its border with Gaza resulting from considerations that Palestinians will attempt to flee to Sinai.
Companies contributed to this report.
