Egypt is building a wall and is leveling land near its border with the Gaza Strip ahead of , satellite images analyzed Friday by The Associated Press show.
Egypt, which has not publicly acknowledged the construction, repeatedly has warned Israel not to forcibly expel the over 1 million Palestinians now displaced in Rafah across the border into its territory while Israeli troops battle the militant group Hamas for a fifth month.
However, the preparations on the Egyptian side of the border in the Sinai Peninsula suggest Cairo is preparing for just that scenario, that鈥檚 been a linchpin for regional security.
The Egyptian government did not respond to requests for comment Friday from the AP. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Feb. 11 issued a statement warning Israel over its possible Rafah offensive and its 鈥渄isplacement of the Palestinian people.鈥�
The satellite images, taken Thursday by Maxar Technologies, show construction ongoing on the wall, which sits along the Sheikh Zuweid-Rafah Road some 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) west of the border with Gaza. The images show cranes, trucks and what appear to be precast concrete barriers being set up along the road.
Those satellite images correspond to features seen in a video released by the London-based Sinai Foundation for Human Rights on Feb. 12. The video shows a crane lifting concrete walls into place along the road.
The construction 鈥渋s intended to create a high-security gated and isolated area near the borders with the Gaza Strip, in preparation for the reception of Palestinian refugees in the case of (a) mass exodus,鈥� the foundation said.
Nearby as well, construction crews appear to be leveling and clearing ground for an unknown purpose. That can also be seen in imagery from Planet Labs PBC of the area. The Wall Street Journal, quoting anonymous Egyptian officials, described 鈥渁n 8-square-mile (20-square-kilometer) walled enclosure鈥� being built in the area that could accommodate over 100,000 people.
Homes and farmland in the area previously had been razed during in the area.
Hard-line officials within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 government have raised the possibility of pushing Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip, something strongly opposed by Israel鈥檚 main ally, the United States. The Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank are lands the Palestinians hope to have for their future state.
The Israeli military referred questions regarding Egypt鈥檚 construction to Netanyahu鈥檚 office, which did not respond.
, drafted just six days after Hamas鈥� Oct. 7 attack from the Gaza Strip that killed 1,200 people and saw over 250 others taken hostage, included a proposal of moving Gaza鈥檚 civilian population to tent cities in the northern Sinai, then building permanent cities and an undefined humanitarian corridor.
In the time since, the Israel-Hamas war has laid wide swaths of the seaside enclave to waste and killed more than 28,600 people, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.
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