Israel Quietly Pushed for Egypt to Admit Large Numbers of Gazans

The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, declined to comment on the proposal.

Days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the armed Palestinian group that rules Gaza, the Israeli military called for all residents of northern Gaza — about half the entire population of the territory — to evacuate to southern Gaza as it prepared for a ground invasion. But Israel did not publicly suggest that Palestinians cross the Egyptian border, which has been largely sealed since the start of the war.

Egypt has rejected the idea of a temporary displacement, let alone a permanent one. A spokesman for the Egyptian government declined to comment for this article, referring instead to a speech made last month by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Egyptian president, that dismissed idea.

“Egypt has affirmed and reiterated its complete rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians and their exodus to Egyptian lands in Sinai, as this is nothing but a final liquidation of the Palestinian cause,” Mr. el-Sisi said in a speech published on his website.

Some of Mr. Netanyahu’s political allies, however, have publicly backed the idea of temporarily moving large numbers of Gazans to Egypt as well as to other countries in the region and in the West.

Danny Danon, a lawmaker from Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party and a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said he supported evacuating Gazan civilians to give Israel more room to maneuver during its ground invasion of Gaza, and to move civilians out of harm’s way.

“We’re trying to lower the level of casualties for our troops and for the civilians,” Mr. Danon said in a phone interview. “We expect not only the Egyptians, but the entire international community to make a genuine effort to support and accept the residents of Gaza.”

Mr. Danon added that the idea would need the agreement of the Egyptian government, which controls Gaza’s southern border. However, Mr. Danon is not a member of the government and could not confirm whether Israel had been pushing foreign governments to back such a plan.

Israel’s diplomatic push has added to a growing sense of uncertainty about what will happen if Israel takes control over parts or all of Gaza, even temporarily, at the end of its military operations.