US puts pressure on Egypt into taking in Palestinians from Gaza

The US has reportedly offered to try to resolve Egypt’s dam crisis if Egypt is willing to cooperate in taking in Palestinians from Gaza, The New Arab reported on February 2nd.
In a visit to Cairo on January 22nd, a senior Trump administration official had separate meetings with the Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty and General Intelligence Chief Hassan Rashad, where the talks covered the displacement plan and the continuous dispute concerning the Grand Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia.
Sources have said that the US envoy suggested that the US involvement in trying to sort out the dam crisis would happen on the condition that Egypt accepts to relocate Gazans, as part of the plan to relocate them in Jordan and Egypt.
Egyptian officials strongly refused to carry out US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Gaza should be “cleaned out,” with its pre-war residents of 2.3 million brought to neighbouring nations.
Egyptian officials reportedly expressed reservations about the suggestion, speaking of its major challenges and repercussions while emphasising the issues surrounding it being put into effect.
The US envoy also met public figures as well as two political party leaders to examine Egypt’s take on the suggestion.
The talks were aimed at concluding whether public demonstrations against Trump’s suggestion were motivated by wider anti-US mentalities or were merely against his idea alone.
Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that the US envoy openly talked about the protests and suggested they were coordinated as a reaction against the US proposal.
A senior Egyptian diplomatic source who has knowledge about the meetings said Cairo’s capacity to go against Trump’s plan would be tricky without wider Arab support.
The source demonstrates that Trump was set on taking his suggestion forward, even though Egypt is against it.
Egyptian officials once again said that they are willing to look into different solutions that would maintain the security of Israel, without forcing Palestinians out of their land.
One diplomatic source and one political source implied that the US envoy’s visit was likely the meeting Trump referred to last week as he spoke to journalists aboard Air Force One.
Trump said he had discussed his plan for Palestinians with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. But at the time a senior Egyptian official said that this conversation did not happen.
On February 1st, in an official statement, the Egyptian presidency confirmed that President Sisi got a phone call from Trump on the evening of January 31st.
Presidential Spokesman Mohamed El-Shenawy said the two leaders engaged in a “positive discussion” on carrying out phase one and two of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar.
They also stressed the urgency of speeding up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza.
El-Shenawy also said that Sisi had stressed the importance of attaining long-lasting peace within the region. He mentioned that the global community views Trump as an important figure in brokering the ceasefire agreement for the conflict, referring to Trumps claims of “commitment to peace”.
The National reported on January 27th that Gaza residents have expressed opposition towards Trump’s suggestion that they relocate.
On January 30th, US president Donald Trump insisted that Jordan and Egypt would take in Palestinians from Gaza, according to The National.
Trump said to reporters in the White House’s Oval Office: “They will do it. They are going to do it, OK?” Trump added: “We do a lot for them and they are going to do it.”
The New Arab, The National