Egypt reaffirms rejection of forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has reaffirmed Cairo's firm rejection of any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from their land, while stressing the urgent need to begin reconstruction efforts in the war-hit Gaza Strip.

Speaking at the opening of the second ministerial conference of the Russian-African Partnership Forum in Cairo, Abdelatty said that Egypt had played a pivotal role in achieving a ceasefire in Gaza.

He stressed "the urgent necessity of launching reconstruction efforts and providing humanitarian support to the brotherly Palestinian people", according to his remarks.

Abdelatty also renewed Egypt's opposition to "any attempts to impose unilateral solutions, alter the demographic or geographic reality of the Palestinian territories, or displace the Palestinian people from their land".

Israel has not yet opened Rafah border crossing, but has announced that it intends to reopen it as an exit‑only crossing for Palestinians leaving Gaza, with no return or entry into Gaza allowed.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions have condemned Israeli plans to "occupy" or "take over" Gaza City and wider areas of the Strip, describing any long‑term Israeli military presence as an occupation they will resist.​​

Talks on next steps of Gaza ceasefire

Earlier on Saturday, a joint statement issued by US envoy Steve Witkoff said representatives from the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey had met in Miami, Florida, to review the next steps in implementing the Gaza ceasefire plan.

"We reviewed the next steps in the phases of implementing the comprehensive peace plan related to Gaza," the statement said, adding that consultations would continue in the coming weeks to move forward with the implementation of the second phase.

In a related development, Turkish security sources said the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), Ibrahim Kalin, met on Saturday with senior figures from the Palestinian group Hamas, including the head of the movement in Gaza and its chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya.

The meeting took place in Istanbul as part of ongoing efforts linked to the Gaza ceasefire. According to the sources, the discussions focused on the steps needed to transition to the second phase of the peace plan, as well as measures to prevent what they described as Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement. Outstanding issues were also discussed in preparation for moving to the next stage, without further details being disclosed.

Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, Israeli forces and settlers have escalated attacks in the occupied West Bank, resulting in the killing of more than 1,102 Palestinians, around 11,000 injuries and over 21,000 arrests, according to Palestinian figures.

In Gaza, the war has left at least 71,000 Palestinians dead and more than 171,000 wounded, most of them women and children. Thousands more are feared buried under rubble or unaccounted for.

The assault has also caused widespread destruction, with the United Nations estimating the cost of reconstruction at around $70bn.