“I don’t think we would — anyone would — raise such a ludicrous proposition,” Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
“If that was the case, maybe the United States would also contemplate providing the same access to its southern border that might be expected for us in the Sinai.”
The document — downplayed earlier this week by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — proposes relocating Gaza’s civilian population to the northern Sinai, arguing such a plan would be best for Israel’s long-term security. Tent cities would be constructed in the area under the plan, with more permanent cities being constructed at a later date.
The plan also calls for a humanitarian corridor to aid the resettled population and a security perimeter be created to prevent them from entering Israel.
Shoukry told Amanpour he had not communicated with Israel about the plan.
“States are sovereign and they are well-defined by their borders, by their populations. And the issue of displacement in itself is a matter that is in contravention, is in violation of international humanitarian law,” Shoukry stated.
“So I think that nobody would undertake an illegal activity,” he added.
Netanyahu’s office downplayed the document in a statement, writing, “This is a preliminary paper, like dozens of such papers prepared by all political and security echelons”.
“The ‘day after’ is a topic that has not been discussed by official Israeli channels, which are now focused on dismantling Hamas’ governing and military abilities,” the statement read.
