By Prof. Dr. Mohsen Mohammed Saleh
The Israeli occupation perhaps found an opportunity to realize an old dream renewed during its aggression on the Gaza Strip: the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Sinai. Was it really serious about this? Or was it a way to raise the ceiling of aggression objectives to the highest possible extent, ensuring that achievable war outcomes were realized based on field performance? Alternatively, was this an expression of hysteria and madness after the severe blow it received on October 7, 2023? The brutal and fierce attack, under the cover of American Western support, aimed to ensure maximum safety for its settlers, particularly in the Gaza envelope. This would displace the largest possible number of Gazans, creating a security buffer along the lines of contact with the Gaza Strip. This strategy might also have been an attempt to create a “second Nakba” for the Palestinian people, fostering an environment of brokenness, defeat, awareness, and frustration that would deter them from the path of armed resistance.
On the other hand, the large population of the Gaza Strip — 2.3 million Palestinians living in 363 square kilometers, one of the densest areas in the world — coupled with feelings of injustice, oppression, siege, poverty, and suffering, is a catalyst for revolution and armed resistance against the Zionist project. The substantial presence of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, continually aspiring to the right of return, is a major “nightmare” the Israelis seek to eliminate.
The strategy of displacement aligns with the essence of the Zionist project, which is based on the idea of a “land without a people” and replacement colonialism, where the settler colonizer replaces the indigenous population. Therefore, the idea of displacement remains inherent in Zionist ideology.
New and Old Projects:
The project to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is not new, with attempts to implement it spanning over the past seventy years. On October 14, 1953, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reached an agreement with the Egyptian government. Under this agreement, Egypt would provide land and pledge to deliver sufficient Nile River water annually to irrigate these lands. The estimated number of Palestinians to be displaced was about 60,000. However, the project faced comprehensive and violent opposition from the Palestinians of the Strip, culminating in strong demonstrations after the Zionist attack on February 28, 1955. These protests, which began on March 1 and lasted for days, called for the rejection of the settlement project, demanding the training and arming of Palestinians, the establishment of a Palestinian national army, the release of public freedoms, and eventually led to the Egyptian government, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, canceling the project.
British documents mention an Israeli project in 1971 for the forced displacement of thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the Al-Arish area in Sinai, aimed at reducing the Strip’s population by about one hundred thousand. However, this project also failed.
Another notable project was the Giora Island Project in 2010, overseen by Israel’s National Security Council. This project, titled “Regional Alternatives to the Idea of Two States for Two Peoples” and published by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, proposed that Egypt cede 720 square kilometers of Sinai adjacent to the Strip in exchange for Palestinians ceding an equal area in the West Bank to the settlements, with Egypt compensated with territory from the southwestern Negev. The “Deal of the Century” project announced by US President Trump in early 2020, titled “Peace on the Road to Prosperity,” was not far from the Giora Island project.
During the recent aggression on the Gaza Strip, a policy paper from the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence was leaked, proposing three options for dealing with the Gaza Strip. It considered that the best option for solving the occupation’s security problem and ensuring the safety of Gaza envelope settlers was the displacement of the Strip’s residents. However, the paper acknowledged significant difficulties in implementation, including Arab and international rejection, which could negatively impact Israel’s global status and image.
Where Does It Stand Now?
There is a vast difference between what the Israeli plan desires and what it can achieve. Historical experience shows that the steadfastness and resistance of the Palestinian people have disrupted and thwarted many Israeli plans and programs. Despite the brutal massacres and displacement carried out by the occupation, especially in the northern Gaza Strip, leading to more than two-thirds of the population leaving their homes and creating a tragic situation, the likelihood of displacement outside the Gaza Strip remains unlikely, with its chances diminishing in the coming days.
The main element here is the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, who insist on resisting displacement and refuse to leave except to return to their homes from which they were expelled in 1948
. This resolve is a key factor in the failure of such projects. On the other hand, Egypt’s approach is to reject displacement and close its borders to it, considering this a red line. Jordan’s position is firmer, rejecting displacement due to fears that it would encourage Israeli aspirations towards displacing West Bank Palestinians to Jordan.
There have been some indications of significant pressure on Egypt, with broad economic inducements. However, the Egyptian leadership seems to have decided against it, not only because approving the displacement would challenge its “legitimacy” before its people and the Arab world in helping to liquidate the Palestinian cause, but also because it is linked to Egyptian national security.
The Americans, initially enthusiastic about the idea of displacement, began to back down after witnessing the Palestinian insistence and the Arab and international rejection of it. Furthermore, the idea of displacement is considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention, which is the core of international humanitarian law, and is listed as a crime against humanity in the Statute of the International Criminal Court. Despite the Israeli occupation’s arrogance, the cost of carrying out such displacement outside the Strip appears to be too high.
The performance of the resistance in the Gaza Strip remains crucial, and evidence suggests that the significant blows received by the occupation army will force it to retreat from many of its goals, with the escalation of its losses and internal political, military, security, and economic crises. Additionally, the increase in calls to stop the aggression, along with growing international pressure on the occupation and the decline of Western support for aggression, suggest that the displacement project will be shelved once again and eventually relegated to the dustbin of history.
