Egypt became angry with the West over Palestinian refugees and resorted to threats

Against the backdrop of the military conflict between Hamas militants and Israel, the Egyptian authorities said they did not want to accept Palestinian refugees. The country is threatening to send them to Europe.

This information was reported in the Financial Times. The publication refers to its own sources.

“You want us to take 1 million people? Well, I'm going to send them to Europe. You care so much about human rights - well, you accept them,” the publication quotes the words of an unnamed Egyptian official.

It is noted that Cairo is “angry” at Western pressure to open checkpoints for Palestinian refugees ahead of the Israeli offensive. Egyptian authorities fear that the country will be forced to accept a stream of refugees into the Sinai Peninsula.

The head of the country's Foreign Ministry has already said that "forced displacement" will not solve the Palestinian crisis. The Egyptian authorities argue that they are unwilling to accept refugees by saying that the country has a weak economy and does not have enough infrastructure to accept so many people.

In addition, according to the official, if refugees are accepted under the pretext of temporary accommodation, they will not return home soon. Or they won’t leave Egypt at all. In addition, many refugees may subsequently become new militants who want to take revenge on Israel. Egypt, on whose territory there were already ISIS bases, does not want this.

At the moment, the Egyptian authorities are only willing to allow humanitarian aid to pass through. The country will only release foreigners and Palestinians with dual citizenship.