Israel will coordinate with Egypt on Palestinian refugees, FM says

Israel will coordinate with Egypt on Palestinian refugees and will find a way to not harm Egypt’s interests, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Friday.

“The state of Israel will have to deal with Rafah because we can’t just leave Hamas there,” Katz said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

When asked where refugees in Rafah would go, he suggested Gaza’s second city Khan Younis, but said that Israel would coordinate with Egypt to ensure Cairo’s interests were not harmed.

“We will coordinate with Egypt,” he said.

He also said that Israel has no plans to deport Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

“We have no intention to deport any Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip,” Katz said, adding that Israel did not want to rule Gaza after it ends its war against the Palestinian military group Hamas that has been governing the territory.