Egypt Reiterates Rejection of Plots to ‘Displace Palestinians’

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Alyahya on Friday night (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Alyahya on Friday night (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
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Egypt Reiterates Rejection of Plots to ‘Displace Palestinians’

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Alyahya on Friday night (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Alyahya on Friday night (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

Egypt reiterated on several occasions in the past two days its rejection of plots to forcibly displace the Palestinians, warning of the dangers of any Israeli invasion of Palestinian Rafah.
In a series of meetings held on the sidelines of his participation in the Munich Security Conference, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed his country’s rejection of forced displacement of Palestinians from their lands.
On Friday, Egypt had categorically denied allegations of participating in any process involving the displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip into the Sinai Peninsula, the country's State Information Service (SIS) said.
“Egypt's decisive stance since the beginning of the aggression ... is to completely reject any forced or voluntary displacement of Palestinian brothers from the Gaza Strip, especially to Egyptian territory,” Diaa Rashwan, the chairperson of the Egyptian State Information Service stated.
He added that such a scenario would entail “a definite liquidation of the Palestinian cause and a direct threat to Egyptian sovereignty and national security.”
This is “a red line and Cairo has the means to deal with it immediately and effectively,” Rashwan stressed.
Also, he said that “Egypt, with its declared and frank position, cannot take any actions on its territory that contradict this stance and give the impression – [that could be] falsely promoted by some - that it is participating in the crime of displacement advocated for by some Israeli parties.”
The SIS chief asserted that Egypt views forced displacement as a grave war crime condemned by international humanitarian law and “Egypt will never be part of it. On the contrary, it will do everything that must be done to stop it and prevent those who seek to commit it from carrying it out.”
Later during a meeting with Lieutenant General Hanen Ould Sidi, the Mauritanian Defense Minister, Shoukry reaffirmed Egypt's firm position calling for the need to avoid risks related to expanding the circle of conflict, and warned of the dangers of any Israeli invasion of Palestinian Rafah, which would have extremely negative repercussions at all levels.
On Friday night, Shoukry and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, Abdullah Ali Alyahya, had exchanged assessments regarding the increasing tension in the region and the situation in the Gaza Strip, as they agreed on the necessity of continuing the necessary action and communication with various parties to prevent the expansion of the cycle of violence and conflict in the region.
An Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement said the two sides also agreed to intensify coordination and joint action during the coming period to curb the crisis in the Gaza Strip and contain its repercussions, as well as to consolidate joint Arab action mechanisms in order to support the pillars of regional security and stability.



How Did Iraq Survive ‘Existential Threat More Dangerous than ISIS’?

Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 
Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 
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How Did Iraq Survive ‘Existential Threat More Dangerous than ISIS’?

Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 
Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 

Diplomatic sources in Baghdad revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraqi authorities were deeply concerned about sliding into the Israeli-Iranian war, which they considered “an existential threat to Iraq even more dangerous than that posed by ISIS when it overran a third of the country’s territory.”

The sources explained that “ISIS was a foreign body that inevitably had to be expelled by the Iraqi entity, especially given the international and regional support Baghdad enjoyed in confronting it... but the war (with Israel) threatened Iraq’s unity.”

They described this “existential threat” as follows:

-When the war broke out, Baghdad received messages from Israel, conveyed via Azerbaijan and other channels, stating that Israel would carry out “harsh and painful” strikes in response to any attacks launched against it from Iraqi territory. The messages held the Iraqi authorities responsible for any such attacks originating from their soil.

-Washington shifted from the language of prior advice to direct warnings, highlighting the grave consequences that could result from any attacks carried out by Iran-aligned factions.

-Iraqi authorities feared what they described as a “disaster scenario”: that Iraqi factions would launch attacks on Israel, prompting Israel to retaliate with a wave of assassinations similar to those it conducted against Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon or Iranian generals and scientists at the start of the war.

-The sources noted that delivering painful blows to these factions would inevitably inflame the Shiite street, potentially pushing the religious authority to take a strong stance. At that point, the crisis could take on the character of a Shiite confrontation with Israel.

-This scenario raised fears that other Iraqi components would then blame the Shiite component for dragging Iraq into a war that could have been avoided. In such circumstances, the divergence in choices between the Shiite and Sunni communities could resurface, reviving the threat to Iraq’s unity.

-Another risk was the possibility that the Kurds would declare that the Iraqi government was acting as if it only represented one component, and that the country was exhausted by wars, prompting the Kurdish region to prefer distancing itself from Baghdad to avoid being drawn into unwanted conflicts.

-Mohammed Shia Al Sudani’s government acted with a mix of firmness and prudence. It informed the factions it would not tolerate any attempt to drag the country into a conflict threatening its unity, while on the other hand keeping its channels open with regional and international powers, especially the US.

-Iraqi authorities also benefited from the position of Iranian authorities, who did not encourage the factions to engage in the war but instead urged them to remain calm. Some observers believed that Iran did not want to risk its relations with Iraq after losing Syria.

-Another significant factor was the factions’ realization that the war exceeded their capabilities, especially in light of what Hezbollah faced in Lebanon and the Israeli penetrations inside Iran itself, which demonstrated that Israel possessed precise intelligence on hostile organizations and was able to reach its targets thanks to its technological superiority and these infiltrations.

-The sources indicated that despite all the pressure and efforts, “rogue groups” tried to prepare three attacks, but the authorities succeeded in thwarting them before they were carried out.

The sources estimated that Iran suffered a deep wound because Israel moved the battle onto Iranian soil and encouraged the US to target its nuclear facilities. They did not rule out another round of fighting “if Iran does not make the necessary concessions on the nuclear issue.”