Egypt sends tanks near Gaza, 'ready to sacrifice' to protect Sinai

The Times of Israel reported on October 31 that Egypt has deployed many tanks and other armored vehicles near the Rafah border gate with the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian tanks and armored vehicles deployed near the Rafah border crossing on October 31.

Egypt has closed its border crossings amid fears of Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip flooding into the Sinai Peninsula. So far, Cairo has only allowed trucks carrying aid into the Gaza Strip and plans to receive some patients for treatment. Egypt has agreed to receive 81 Gaza patients for treatment starting November 1, according to the Gaza border authority, Reuters reported.

Egypt is bound by a 1979 peace treaty with Israel to deploy only a limited number of troops to the Sinai Peninsula. However, Israel is believed to have approved Egypt's deployment of more than the limit to the region to fight an Islamist insurgency.

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In a statement on October 31, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the country would accept "sacrifice of millions of people" to protect the Sinai Peninsula. "Egypt will never allow anything to be imposed on it," Madbouly said, stressing that regional issues would not be resolved by taking away national interests, according to al-Arabiya.

The remarks came as Prime Minister Madbouly and hundreds of government officials and public representatives visited the city of al-Arish, the capital of North Sinai province.

Egyptian forces deployed near Rafah border crossing

The politician's message was seen as a response to Israel's plan to transfer 2.3 million Palestinians from Gaza to the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to downplay the plan, saying it is only a concept on paper.

The plan was proposed by the Israeli Intelligence Ministry, an agency that does not issue policy but is only responsible for research.

The proposal, however, has stoked long-standing Egyptian concerns that Israel wants to turn Gaza into a Cairo issue. It has also revived Palestinian memories of being displaced during the conflict that followed the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has warned that the peace treaty with Israel is at risk of collapsing if Gaza floods into the Sinai Peninsula, raising the possibility of it becoming a "new base for terrorist activities against Israel".

"Israel has the right to defend itself and protect its national security, and then attack directly into Egyptian soil," el-Sisi said. For that reason, el-Sisi has repeatedly stressed that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip must remain on their land, and has suggested temporarily moving Palestinians to Israel's Negev desert until Israel ends its campaign to eliminate armed groups in Gaza.

Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have not commented.

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