According to information published by The Times of Israel and Egypt deployed tanks and armored vehicles near the Rafah checkpoint on the border with the Gaza Strip. Photos from the scene show the presence of “dozens of vehicles.”
The reason for such action on the part of Egypt is the fear of the influx of tens of thousands of refugees from the Gaza Strip due to the army of the clash between Israel and Hamas. However, Egypt has pledged to continue allowing humanitarian aid trucks into the enclave.
According to the Al-Ahram daily, the Rafah crossing will be opened on November 1 to receive disabled Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. 150 ambulances are already ready to transport the victims, but the exact number of evacuated people has not been specified.
The Rafah point is the only place left after the escalation of the conflict to withdraw people from the Gaza Strip to the Sinai Peninsula and import food. Since early October, the point has been closed several times due to shelling, although Egyptian authorities have declared it open. Roads on the Palestinian side were also damaged by bombing.
According to the AP agency, Israeli intelligence has drawn up a plan to relocate 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip to the Sinai Peninsula after the start of the war with Hamas. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has not yet taken the document seriously. The Financial Times previously reported that the prime minister had tried to persuade European leaders to put pressure on Egypt to take in the refugees, but the proposal failed to win the support of Germany and France.
According to the UN, more than Since the outbreak of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, 1.4 million residents of the Gaza Strip forced to leave their homes.