Amid international warnings, particularly from the United States and regional sources about an invasion of Rafah city, Egypt is preparing for the worst. Cairo has requested the United States to provide the necessary security equipment to secure its borders with the adjacent Gaza Strip, according to five American and Egyptian officials. These officials claimed that Cairo has asked Washington in recent months to consider supplying new equipment such as security systems and radar to secure the border, as reported by Politico magazine.
These Egyptian requests come at a time when American officials are discussing with their counterparts in Qatar, Egypt, and Israel a roadmap that ultimately leads to a ceasefire allowing for the release of all Israeli prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza. This also occurs while Israel insists on entering Rafah city to expel Hamas fighters from the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Both Egyptian and American officials increasingly believe that an invasion of Rafah will eventually happen, according to the magazine.
Egypt has repeatedly and strongly opposed this plan, asserting that an invasion of the city will inevitably force hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents to flee south to the border, where they will likely attempt to cross. Additionally, some officials in Egypt are concerned about the potential infiltration of Hamas fighters into Sinai, which has previously witnessed numerous terrorist attacks. Egypt and other Arab countries have repeatedly rejected the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, whether to Sinai, the Negev, or other regions. Some Egyptian officials have previously confirmed that this displacement plan is not new but rather old Israeli ideas that have been revived with the outbreak of war in the Palestinian enclave.
