The Vision Center for Political Development organized a seminar titled “Beyond Gaza Port”, featuring speakers Hani Al-Masri, Dr. Khaled Al-Hroub, Dr. Sami Al-Arian, and Dr. Salah Abdel Ati, who shared their perspectives on the underlying reasons and objectives behind the United States’ initiative to construct a port in Gaza, amidst a detailed examination of the current situation in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing conflict trajectories.
The participants reached the following conclusions:
- As the U.S. election approached, President Biden embarked on implementing the port project as a strategy to mitigate the discontent among Arab and Muslim voters towards his policies regarding the conflict in Gaza. This effort also aimed at absorbing the global discontent towards the United States.
- The American objective behind the port’s construction is to prolong the duration of the conflict, aligning with Israeli goals in the ongoing war.
- The port’s establishment is part of Israel’s efforts to involve the United States in the conflict, with discussions revolving around maintaining a presence of 1,000 American soldiers.
- Israel’s primary aim in constructing the port is to control humanitarian aid, ensuring Israel’s tight grip on the civilian and humanitarian situation.
- Thus, the port is integral to Israel’s strategic plan for the war and aligns with it, allowing for its dismantlement in case it make up a genuine threat to Israeli interests.
- The initiative is contextualized within a strategy to facilitate voluntary migration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip through Cyprus, followed by relocation to three European countries that have agreed to accept Palestinian refugees, thereby altering the demographic balance in favor of Israel.
- The construction of the port and the distribution of aid in the north aim to encourage the return of residents from Rafah, emptying it of displaced individuals, which could pave the way for an assault on Rafah and its subsequent destruction.
- The port will be built in a location closer to the north, assisting in the segregation of the northern part of the Strip from its southern counterpart, and creating an isolated zone in the north following the expulsion of its inhabitants.
- The project also aims to diminish Egypt’s role in the Palestinian issue and negotiations. Despite Egypt’s behaviour that aligns with the Israeli entity in the ongoing war, it has remained steadfast on certain issues threatening Egyptian national security.
