Why doesn't Egypt annex the Gaza strip and provide Palestinians living there with a reasonable life?

Short answer: Egypt doesn't want the problems that annexing the Gaza Strip will bring. Long answer: Gaza is hundreds of miles from Egypt's capital, is populated by a large number of angry and militant people and would require massive influxes of cash and resources to become a part of the Egyptian state. Annexing Gaza would require Egypt to foot this bill and to also change the nature of the already tenuous relationship with Israel. Since the Palestinians are Arabs, but neither tribally nor culturally Egyptians, there's likely no great love for them to join the Egyptian nation. With no resources and many risks involved with joining the two parties together there's simply little incentive for this to occur.

Most here have answered about why Egypt doesn't want Gaza, but I believe the answer is also correct the other way around - Gaza doesn't want to be part of Egypt. This is for two main reasons: 1. Gaza is controlled by the Hamas, which is funded and probably controlled to a certain extent, by Iran. The Hamas will never agree to lose their status, their money and their power, simply to become Egyptian citizens. 2. The Palestinians living in Gaza have rather good lives in comparison with the average Egyptian. I think they prefer to have a minimally-good life provided by UNRWA, all kinds of other NGO's and even Israel, than to join the poor masses in Egypt. 3. The Palestinians probably have a collective memory of all the countries and places that treated them badly over the decades. No matter where they went, Palestinians have always been treated as second class citizens by their host Arab countries.

In the Israeli-Egypt peace treaty negotiation Israel wanted to return Gaza to Egypt (since we originally conquered it from Egypt, there was no Palestinian state). Anwar Sadat refused, and was willing to blow up the peace treaty, and not get Sinai back just not to take back Gaza. Egypt may be considered a 3rd world country, but they know very well who they are dealing with and they are no fools. :)Yu

Simply put, Egypt, like all the other surrounding Arab countries, do not want to remove Palestinian Identity. It is a concept that even the Palestinians agree to. They must not be a forgotten people. Their self-determination is just as great as Israeli self-determination. One could ask the same question as to why Israel wouldn't agree to a multi-cultural, purely democratic, non-racial single state that is enjoyed by both people in the region - after all, Arabs and Jews shared the land amongst themselves for many centuries prior to European colonisation. The answer you will most likely find will be no different than that of the Palestinians. This identity is in contradiction to the statement that Golda Meir made when she believed that Palestinians didn't exist. This rhetoric is untrue. They have always existed and were described as Philistinieen (arabic phonetic). The English translation of that is Palestinians, and so naturally the Brits named their colonial region Palestine after the indigenous people that lived there for centuries. Egyptians know this history well. The very implication of annexation is an immoral act of delegitimizing a people of their identity and of their rightful home wherein you will find a critical distinction between that and the notion of colonisation as was the status of the region when it was Mandate Palestine. While the British occupiers had control of Palestine between WWI and WWII - much to the dislike of the Arabs - they did not create settlements over existing homes, nor did they displace or deport the inhabitants of the land. Their presence was purely a military presence, and while there were checkpoints, Palestinians were able to travel and trade freely between each city without restrictions. Based on the above information, a more resonable question would be why Egypt wouldn't colonize the Gaza Strip and provide Palestinians living there with a resonable life? The answer to that is simpler still. That was in fact the status during 1948-67 where Egypt provided military protection to the people of Gaza while promising those who where displaced from their homes the Right of Return. Never at any time did Egypt feel the need to remove the Palestinian's identity in addition to those that were made refugees. Unfortunately with their blind hatered and zeal, there was no vision in restoring that identity and they subsequently lost legitimacy as protectors of these people. Having said that, hypothetically if either annexation or colonisation was in fact a possibility today, it would definately be a contentious situation on the Rafa border crossing that Israel would no doubt want a cruical role in playing. Currently Israel's intention is to demilitarize a newly formed State of Palestine, which is ironic in its own right, since this is the current status quo and it leaves a large blur in the definition of sovereignty. No doubt Israel would ensure its "safety" by preventing an open border for free trade and movement at the Rafa crossing. They would most likely feel that it is in their own interest to be the state responsible for "colonising" Gaza with their demilitarization edict and completing their blockade around the entire strip. That is of course if they don't have another friendly dictator by the time Egypt have their elections in September.

If any country annexes Gaza and gives citizenship to the Arabs who are generation after generation made to believe they are refugees, the UNRWA and UN money will disappear. UNRWA money is only available to refugees and this is why the Palestinians are the only people who pass on refugee status to the next generation. If any Palestinian obtains citizenship they lose the UNRWA money and benefits. There is no incentive for any country hoisting Palestinians to give them citizenship and thus start paying for their healthcare and education. All Arab states hosting Palestinians get a workforce that contributes to the economy and taxes, while avoiding having to pay for the social infrastructure to maintain the community.

My take has been the North Korea/China thing. Egypt, like China, has enough problems giving its own people a reasonable standard of living. Why take on hundreds of thousands of additional refugees? Likewise, no one seriously expects the US to annex Puerto Rico and start building up the region, despite periodic referenda about the status of the island and a much better status quo situation than either North Korea or Gaza.

The simple answer is why should they? Gaza people are not Egyptians why increase problems- Gaza was protected/ part of Egypt till 1967 but they were never really Egyptians t is like saying why doesn't the US in the West Coast of California gives all Mexicans a US passport since CA was a art of Mexico doesn't make any sense Egypt is already struggling economically so why add benefits like free education and free medical treatments to people they know will never appreciate it and will never belong there

For starters because standards of living in Gaza are already much higher than in Egypt - Gazans live significantly longer, have access to better education and medical care, and don't suffer from malnutrition. Egypt cannot provide that. They will get people brainwashed for generations that they are entitled to everything Israelis built in the last 60 years. By taking them as citizens Egypt will become the target of their demand - and these people were trained to fight, and they were trained to fight dirty.

It is difficult to answer your question since it makes hidden assumptions that are incorrect. Your quote that you heard Egyptians refer to Palestinians as "their people" is not sufficient evidence that Egyptians and Gazans are one nation. Neither the Egyptians nor the Gazans view it this way. Egypt's position is that Gaza should be part of an independent Palestinian state, and is waiting for Israel to allow this to happen, as required by UNSC resolutions.