Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has told fellow Arab leaders that he is open to temporarily moving 500,000 Gaza residents to northern Sinai, where a designated city would be set up to support reconstruction efforts in Gaza, according to a report on Friday. A report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar stated that Sissi expressed his willingness during recent meetings with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. However, no other sources have confirmed this information.

Egypt's state information service rejected the report, stating, “Egypt’s position is firm in its absolute and final rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians, and the Cairo Arab Summit’s emergency plan for reconstruction is based on it.”

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah have consistently rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that their countries could permanently host Palestinian refugees as part of his plan to depopulate Gaza and transform it into a “riviera.” The matter is particularly sensitive for Jordan and Egypt, as they worry that an influx of Palestinians could threaten their stability. During the two-month ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, which ended this week, Arab leaders held multiple summits to discuss Gaza and their concept for “the day after the war.”

At an Arab League summit in Cairo in early March, Egypt outlined its proposal for rebuilding Gaza, making it clear that the plan would not involve displacing residents. The proposal includes the establishment of an independent technocrat committee to govern Gaza for six months before transferring authority to the Palestinian Authority. While it does not explicitly name Hamas, it states that the status of all armed groups in Gaza should be determined through a broader political process aimed at achieving a Palestinian state.

According to earlier reports in Arab media, the plan involves relocating Gazans within Gaza itself to facilitate clearing debris and rebuilding damaged areas. A United Nations assessment from September found that over two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings had been damaged or destroyed since the war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has given conflicting signals about its position on the Egypt-led Arab plan for Gaza’s post-war future. Initially, Trump repeatedly expressed his vision of removing Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinian residents and rebuilding the area, even suggesting that Israel might transfer control of Gaza to the U.S. after the conflict.

On March 7, US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, described the Arab proposal as a “good-faith first step” with “a lot of compelling features.” However, hours later, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce dismissed the proposal as “inadequate.” Last week, in a press conference with the Irish prime minister, Trump asserted, “Nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli government has been promoting the idea of a “Gaza exodus” as its strategy for the region. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, the government is working to create a “migration administration” to oversee the departure of Palestinian residents from Gaza.

“This plan is taking shape, with ongoing actions in coordination with the administration… It involves identifying key countries, understanding their interests — both with the US and with us — and fostering cooperation,” commented Smotrich on the initiative to find countries willing to accept Palestinian emigrants.