For several days now, videos have been posted on social media showing what is supposedly a threatening buildup of Egyptian military forces in the Sinai area near the border of Israel, Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

According to some Arabic-language media and several Israeli outlets, the change in Egypt's military posture in this area is a reaction to US President Donald Trump's suggestion that Palestinians in Gaza be moved into Jordan and Egypt's Sinai region while a "Gaza Riviera" is under construction.

Egypt, along with the US and Qatar, has been crucial in brokering the current ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Gaza-based militant group Hamas. After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of around 1,200 people, Israel launched a retaliatory military campaign in Gaza that has killed over 48,000 people. A fragile ceasefire is currently in effect in Gaza, so reconstruction is being discussed.

However both Jordan and Egypt have said they're opposed to any plan to take in millions of Palestinians. This would amount to an existential crisis for both countries, and the rest of the world could potentially consider such an expulsion ethnic cleansing.

Is Egypt actually preparing to take up arms to prevent Israel from pushing Palestinians over the border, as those various reports seem to suggest?

That is nonsense, says Hossam el-Hamalawy, an Egyptian researcher and activist now living in Germany who writes

© Deutsche Welle