Egypt is building a 20-square-kilometer buffer zone near its border with the Gaza Strip, according to press reports.
Egyptian officials said that the area being built can accommodate more than 100 thousand people, surrounded by concrete walls, according to the American newspaper “Wall Street Journal”.
The officials added that the construction of that area comes amid fears that the Israeli military incursion into Rafah will lead to an influx of refugees from Gaza.
Israel is facing growing warnings from its allies and critics that its promised ground offensive in Rafah, a last resort that has seen its population grow 5-fold in a matter of months, will lead to a bloodbath among civilians.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed again on Wednesday to attack Rafah, saying Hamas had woven its remaining brigades, weapons and smuggling routes around the city.
Netanyahu ordered his leaders to draw up plans to move civilians out of harm’s way, but participants in the discussions acknowledged that practical options remain elusive.
An Israeli official said planning for the evacuation was underway, but no final plan had been approved.
The Israeli proposal to create a series of camps stretching along the Gaza coast on the Mediterranean Sea, which can accommodate more than 350 thousand tents, was not enough to calm critics when it was presented recently in Cairo
