The Negev Desert... Why is it Repeatedly Mentioned as an Alternative for Displacement of Gazans?

A Bedouin village in the Negev Desert (AFP)
A Bedouin village in the Negev Desert (AFP)
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The Negev Desert... Why is it Repeatedly Mentioned as an Alternative for Displacement of Gazans?

A Bedouin village in the Negev Desert (AFP)
A Bedouin village in the Negev Desert (AFP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s talk about the Negev Desert as an alternative destination to transfer the Palestinians of Gaza to “until Israel ends its operations,” brought back the spotlight on that region, which has long been mentioned in projects aimed at displacing Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, or within various notions known as “land exchange.”

However, the idea of moving the Palestinians to that area has always been met with rejection regionally and internationally, according to experts in Israeli affairs, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Egyptian president warned on Wednesday of the continuation of military operations in the Gaza Strip, saying that they would have “security and military repercussions that could get out of control.”

In a press conference after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Sisi stressed that the displacement of Palestinians to Sinai “means transferring the fighting” to that area, which will become “a base for attacking Israel.”

In this context, he pointed to the possibility of transferring the Palestinians to the Negev desert “until Israel ends its operation in Gaza.”

Common borders

The Negev Desert stretches over an area exceeding 14,000 square kilometers, in the southern regions of the occupied Palestinian territories. It borders Jordan to the east and the Sinai Desert to the west. It is separated from the Red Sea by the city of Eilat to the south. The city of Hebron (south of the West Bank) is one of the closest Palestinian cities to its north.

Despite this vast area, the population does not exceed 100,000 citizens, according to Palestinian estimates. Those live in 46 villages, 36 of which are not recognized by the occupation authorities.

According to Palestinian media reports, the Arab communities in the Negev Desert “suffer clear neglect by the Israeli occupation authorities,” despite the establishment of settlements and military projects in limited areas of that region, most notably the Dimona nuclear reactor.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, expert in Israeli affairs at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies Dr. Saeed Okasha said the Negev Desert was a poor region in terms of resources.

He emphasized an Israeli desire “to get rid of [the region] in exchange for more useful lands for Israeli settlement projects, or for plans that serve the displacement of Palestinians to neighboring countries.”

Okasha went on to say that the Negev Desert proposal within the ideas of exchanging lands with neighboring countries or with the Palestinian Authority “has been on the table since the 1950s.”

It was presented for the first time to former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who rejected it.

The expert in Israeli affairs added that the land exchange was proposed again in 2000 to late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, in exchange for giving up 600 square kilometers of West Bank land to expand Israeli settlements, but Arafat also refused.

In early 2010, former Israeli National Security Advisor Giora Eiland published a study in which he indicated that the new Kingdom of Jordan was the homeland of the Palestinians, and should consist of three regions that include the West and East Banks and Greater Gaza, which takes part of Egypt.

Egyptian writer and political analyst Sleiman Gouda said that the Israelis’ constant feeling of the limited strategic depth of their territories was the reason behind their continuous desire to expand whenever the opportunity arose.



Three-Quarters of UN Members Support Palestinian Statehood 

 Pro-Palestinian protesters shout slogans at Syntagma Square during a protest, part of demonstrations taking place across Greece, in Athens, August 10, 2025. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian protesters shout slogans at Syntagma Square during a protest, part of demonstrations taking place across Greece, in Athens, August 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Three-Quarters of UN Members Support Palestinian Statehood 

 Pro-Palestinian protesters shout slogans at Syntagma Square during a protest, part of demonstrations taking place across Greece, in Athens, August 10, 2025. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian protesters shout slogans at Syntagma Square during a protest, part of demonstrations taking place across Greece, in Athens, August 10, 2025. (Reuters)

Three-quarters of UN members have already or soon plan to recognize Palestinian statehood, with Australia on Monday becoming the latest to promise it will at the UN General Assembly in September.

The Israel-Hamas war, raging in Gaza since the Palestinian group's attack on October 7, 2023, has revived a global push for Palestinians to be given a state of their own.

The action breaks with a long-held view that Palestinians could only gain statehood as part of a negotiated peace with Israel.

According to an AFP tally, at least 145 of the 193 UN members now recognize or plan to recognize a Palestinian state, including France, Canada and Britain.

Here is a quick recap of the Palestinians' quest for statehood:

On November 15, 1988, during the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising against Israeli rule, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally proclaimed an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

He made the announcement in Algiers at a meeting of the exiled Palestinian National Council, which adopted the two-state solution as a goal, with independent Israeli and Palestinian states existing side-by-side.

Minutes later, Algeria became the first country to officially recognize an independent Palestinian state.

Within a week, dozens of other countries, including much of the Arab world, India, Türkiye, most of Africa and several central and eastern European countries followed suit.

The next wave of recognitions came in late 2010 and early 2011, at a time of crisis for the Middle East peace process.

South American countries, including Argentina, Brazil and Chile, answered calls by the Palestinians to endorse their statehood claims.

This came in response to Israel's decision to end a temporary ban on Jewish settlement-building in the occupied West Bank.

In 2011, with peace talks at a standstill, the Palestinians pushed ahead with a campaign for full UN membership.

The quest failed, but in a groundbreaking move on October 31 of that year, the UN cultural agency UNESCO voted to accept the Palestinians as a full member, much to the dismay of Israel and the United States.

In November 2012, the Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at the United Nations in New York after the General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to upgrade the status of the Palestinians to "non-member observer state".

Three years later, the International Criminal Court also accepted the Palestinians as a state party.

Israel's offensive in Gaza after the October 7, 2023 attack has boosted support for Palestinian statehood.

Four Caribbean countries (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and the Bahamas) and Armenia took the diplomatic step in 2024.

So did four European countries: Norway, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia, the latter three EU members.

Within the European Union, this was a first in 10 years since Sweden's move in 2014, which resulted in years of strained relations with Israel.

Other member states, such as Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, had already done so in 1988, long before joining the EU. On the other hand, some former Eastern bloc countries, such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, do not or no longer recognize a state of Palestine.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday that "Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own" at the UN General Assembly.

France said last month it intends to recognize a Palestinian state come September, while Britain said it would do the same unless Israel takes "substantive steps", including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

Canada also plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney said, marking a dramatic policy shift that was immediately rejected by Israel.

Among other countries that could also formally express recognition, Malta, Finland and Portugal have raised the possibility.