Overcrowding at border sparks fears of influx of refugees into Egypt

The last point of refuge for Palestinians fleeing from Israel's relentless siege of the Gaza Strip is collapsing under the weight of tens of thousands of people seeking food and shelter.

It has stirred fears of a potential mass displacement into Egypt, United Nations officials warned on Dec 10.

Pressure is mounting in Rafah, the area near Gaza's southern border with Egypt, where many Palestinians have tried to escape Israel's military campaign against Hamas, only to find more death, hunger and desperation.

"Where should I go? Tell me, where should I go?" said Mr Raif Naji Abu Lubda, 39, a farmer who fled to the border area with his wife and six children.

The family is now sleeping on the ground in the cold and cannot find food or even salty water to drink, he said.

Still, Mr Abu Lubda said, he would rather "go home and die there" than be forced into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

It is a scenario that Egypt and other Arab governments, in any event, have flatly rejected.

They fear that if large numbers of Palestinians leave Gaza, Israel will not allow them to return.

In some wars, civilians can escape the violence by fleeing to neighbouring countries, with the understanding that they will return home after the fighting stops.

But the displacement of Palestinians caused by the creation of Israel in 1948 and the decades of conflict since have left Arab governments scared that Israel might use the war to push Palestinians out of Gaza permanently.

Speaking at a conference in Qatar on Dec 10, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Israel's military campaign amounted to "a systematic effort to empty Gaza of its people".