ALBAWABA - The Egyptian army has reinforced its presence on the eastern border with Gaza amid fears of the humanitarian and military repercussions if the Israeli forces attempted to control areas still outside its control in Gaza City and the north at any time, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.
Egyptian authorities expect that military operations will force approximately one million Gazans to flee Gaza City toward the southern part of the Strip, opening the door to deliberate Israeli attempts to push these civilians toward the Egyptian border.
An informed source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that this scenario is viewed in Egypt as a direct threat to national security, as it would shift a massive humanitarian and security burden to Sinai and shift the crisis into Egyptian territory.
Fears grew in Egypt that Israel would exploit the chaos resulting from the war to consolidate its "transfer" policy (forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza), turning southern Gaza into a temporary stop before attempting to push civilians toward the Rafah crossing.
Last week, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and Chief of the General Staff of Israel Eyal Zamir agreed on a plan to conquer Gaza City, local media reported.
The Israeli army has decided to bring forward the call-up of 60,000 reserve soldiers and extend the service of 20,000 reserve soldiers for an extra 40 days.
Israel's Gaza occupation plan:
On August 8, the Israeli government approved a plan suggested by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to gradually reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City, noting that the plan started today, according to Israeli media, as more soldiers are being called to begin with controlling Gaza City.
According to Al-Jazeera, about 1 million Palestinians are currently living in Gaza City, and the plan outlines displacing them to the south, then encircling the city and carrying out incursions into residential areas.
