People take part in a rally to back Palestine, near the El-Arish Airport in North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Mohamed Asad/Xinhua)
ARISH, Egypt, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Egyptians from various provinces rallied near the El-Arish Airport in North Sinai Governorate on Tuesday, voicing support for the Palestinian cause and rejecting any attempts to displace Palestinians from their lands.
Waving Egyptian and Palestinian flags, the participants raised banners reading "No to displacement" and "We stand with Gaza," among others, and voiced their support for the Egypt-proposed Gaza reconstruction plan.
"We support the Palestinian cause and the rights of the Palestinian people, against the attempts of their displacement by (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (U.S. President Donald) Trump," Soad Mostafa, who came from Port Said Governorate with a group from the Homeland Defenders Party, told Xinhua during the rally.
The rally took place as visiting French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday toured the city of Arish on the Egypt-Gaza border, where Egypt receives locally- and internationally-donated aid bound for the besieged Gaza via the Rafah border crossing. Hospitals in Arish also host dozens of injured Palestinians.
Macron arrived in Cairo on Sunday evening for a three-day visit. On Monday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Macron, and King Abdullah II of Jordan held a trilateral summit in Cairo, after which they issued a joint statement calling for an immediate return to the ceasefire in Gaza and affirming that governance of Gaza must be exclusively under the authority of an empowered Palestinian Authority.
According to the statement, they emphasized that the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers and ensuring full access to aid are obligations that must be fulfilled under international law and international humanitarian law. They also voiced rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their land and any attempt to annex Palestinian territory.
Israel ended a two-month ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza on March 18 and resumed deadly air and ground assaults on the enclave, with a U.S.-backed plan to displace Gazans first proposed by Trump on Jan. 25.
On Monday, Trump brought up his initial Gaza takeover proposal again after meeting with Netanyahu at the White House, saying, "having a peace force like the United States there, controlling and owning the Gaza Strip, would be a good thing."
"If you take the people, the Palestinians, and move them around to different countries -- and you have plenty of countries that will do that -- and you really have a freedom zone," he said.
The renewed Israeli attacks have so far killed 1,449 Palestinians and injured 3,647 others, Gaza's health authorities said Tuesday, adding that the death toll in the enclave since the war began in October 2023 has risen to 50,810, with 115,688 injured. ■
People take part in a rally to back Palestine, near the El-Arish Airport in North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Mohamed Asad/Xinhua)
People take part in a rally to back Palestine, near the El-Arish Airport in North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Mohamed Asad/Xinhua)
