Egypt is building a huge refugee camp in the desert surrounded by high concrete walls. reports that The Wall Street Journal Thursday. The camp is being built amid concerns about a mass exodus from the Gaza Strip following an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah.
According to the newspaper, more than 100,000 people could be housed in a tent camp in Egypt's Sinai desert, near the border with the Gaza Strip.
Egypt has been trying for weeks to beef up security along the Gaza border with soldiers, fences and armored vehicles to prevent desperate Palestinians from rushing to the Sinai Peninsula. The refugee camp is said to be part of a contingency plan in case large numbers of Palestinians manage to enter Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently ordered his army to plan an offensive and evacuation of civilians in the town of Rafah in southern Gaza, on the border with Egypt. The objective is to destroy the Hamas fighting units.
According to the United Nations, Rafah is home to about 1.3 million people. Most of them have fled to the city from other parts of the Gaza Strip, in some cases at the behest of the Israeli army.
Israel's plans to launch an offensive in Rafah are drawing increasing international criticism. Egypt has threatened to end the peace accord with Israel if Palestinian infiltration crosses the border.
In a phone call with Netanyahu on Thursday, US President Joe Biden reiterated his opposition to an attack on Rafah unless civilian safety could be ensured. (ANP/Belga)
Also read: Palestinians in Rafah no longer know: stay or move on? They cannot go very far
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