The Trump administration has reportedly made its “final offer” to Cairo, demanding Egypt take in 500,000-700,000 Gazans in exchange for billions in extra aid or face loss of existing US aid.
By World Israel News Staff
The Trump administration is continuing its efforts to convince the Egyptian government to absorb a significant number of Palestinian Arabs from the Gaza Strip, according to an Arabic-language media report, offering additional aid should Cairo comply while threatening to withhold existing aid should Egypt refuse.
The London-based, Qatari-owned news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that the Trump administration has made a “final offer” to Egypt, demanding that the world’s largest Arab state, with a population of over 100 million, take in between 500,000 and 700,000 Gazans, as part of President Donald Trump’s Gaza resettlement plan.
The latest proposal was conveyed to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi by the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin-Zayed Al Nahyan, who recently visited Cairo and met with el-Sisi.
The new proposal combines a carrot-and-stick approach, the report said, with the White House offering to massively increase U.S. aid to Egypt while also threatening to end the existing aid programs should Egypt refuse.
A source familiar with the proposal confirmed to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the U.S. has threatened to end the roughly $1.5 billion in aid that Egypt receives annually.
Should Egypt refuse the offer, the billions in new aid proposed by the Trump administration would be directed to other countries that agree to take in Gazans.
On Monday, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that since the start of the war in October 2023, over 35,000 Gazans have permanently resettled outside of the Gaza Strip. While most of those emigrés left Gaza in the first weeks of the war, emigration from the Strip is on the rise again, with 1,000 Gazans emigrating during the first three weeks of March and another 600 expected to leave over the next week.