Egypt is reportedly planning to reinforce its border with the Gaza Strip, London-based Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Sunday morning.
This includes approximately 40,000 soldiers, air defense systems, and tanks being deployed to the area, according to the report.
Egyptian officials are concerned about the IDF taking over Gaza City and fear the humanitarian and military repercussions of any such invasion, the report added.
Officials said they expect one million Palestinians to evacuate Gaza City towards the southern areas of the Strip, according to the report, "opening the door to deliberate Israeli attempts to push these civilians toward the Egyptian border."
Cairo views this potential scenario as a direct threat to national security as it would cause a significant humanitarian and security burden to the Sinai area, an informed source told the outlet.
Thus, Egypt is bolstering its forces in an attempt to send a message that they categorically reject displacement of Palestinians in the enclave and to warn against any security breaches on Egyptian territory, according to sources cited by the outlet.
Egypt will remain a "firewall" against any plans to forcibly displace Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula, an official said.
Israeli threats of expanding its invasion coupled with right-wing Israeli factions expanding settlement projects has deepened regional tensions, a former Egyptian foreign ministry official told the outlet.
He also called for more stringent international action against Israel, whether via the United Nations Security Council, imposing economic sanctions, or mirroring world boycott, divestment, and sanctions policies taken against apartheid South Africa.
Egyptian FM calls mass displacement of Palestinians a 'red line'
The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty, said that any mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza was a "red line" in a Monday interview with CNN.
“We will not accept it, we will not participate in it, and we will not allow it to happen,” Abdelatty told CNN, adding that displacement was a "one-way ticket” for Palestinians to leave Gaza.
He also added that Cairo was working with “different channels, with one objective, to alleviate the burden and suffering of Palestinians."
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that his country was ready to temporarily host half a million Gazans who would be evacuated from the Gaza Strip, according to a March report by Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.
According to the report, the Gazans would be allocated a city in the north of the Sinai Peninsula.
However, this was denied by Egyptian authorities, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed's latest report.