Dermer lobbied for moving Gazans to Sinai during ‘tense’ meet with Egyptian official

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer held a “tense” meeting with a senior Egyptian official late last month in Jerusalem, during which the latter sought to convey Cairo’s fervent position against moving Gazans into the Sinai Peninsula, an Israeli official and a second source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.

The Egyptian official relayed that Cairo is alarmed by calls from Israeli politicians to push Palestinians into Gaza and stressed that Egypt views any such effort as an existential threat, the sources said. According to the sources, Dermer responded by maintaining that the Egyptian people are not as opposed to taking in Gazans as the Egyptian government is. 

Alarmed by the answer — in addition to disagreeing with it — Egyptian officials have since sought to arrange a meeting for Dermer with some of the country’s more senior leaders in Cairo in order to further make the case against the relocation of Palestinians into the Sinai. While Egypt was hoping that the meeting would take place earlier this month, it has not yet been finalized, the sources said. (Read More)