Israel Challenges Egypt on Secret Sinai Military Buildup

An Egyptian M60 main battle tank and an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) near the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on March 23, 2024. Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images. Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images.

Jerusalem has officially protested the recent violations of the 1979 peace treaty, which prohibits Cairo from having a sizeable military presence in Sinai.

By JNS

Senior Israeli officials have approached Egypt regarding serious violations of peace agreement terms following mounting evidence of Egyptian military buildup in Sinai that exceeds previously agreed limits.

Sources familiar with the matter said Egyptian officials proposed U.S. mediation to reduce growing tensions between the nations. The Israeli diplomatic messages were conveyed amid increasingly concerning social media posts showing the Egyptian army allegedly conducting exercises preparing for a potential invasion of Israel through Sinai.

In recent discussions between the sides, Egyptian officials expressed their own concerns, stating that “entities with foreign interests aiming to destabilize relations between the countries are responsible for distributing the videos, some edited and some fabricated.”

Egypt additionally proposed resolving its Sinai violations through accelerated bilateral dialogue to bridge gaps.

These diplomatic exchanges follow last month’s remarks by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yehiel Leiter, who characterized the situation as “intolerable” in a meeting with American Jewish organization leaders.

Cairo has constructed military bases in Sinai “that can only be used for offensive operations, for offensive weapons—that’s a clear violation,” Leiter said in the Jan. 28 briefing, a recording of which was shared by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Egypt’s breach “is an issue that is going to come to the fore because it’s not tolerable,” the Israeli diplomatic envoy explained. “For a long time, it’s been shunted aside, and this continues. This is going to be an issue that we’re going to put on the table very soon and very emphatically.”

Satellite images indicating changes in Egyptian army deployment in the Sinai Peninsula have reportedly led security coordinators in Israeli border towns to paint a worrying picture of recent developments.

Security and diplomatic sources confirmed Egypt’s pattern of introducing forces into Sinai in violation of agreements over the years, only requesting Israeli approval after the fact—which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consistently granted.

Yagil Henkin, a military affairs expert who first warned about concerning trends from the south in 2018, explained: “This happened through creeping annexation. First, they would bring in forces, then retroactively request Israeli approval, which was always given. Even after operational needs ended, forces were not withdrawn.”

In recent days, Cairo’s official rhetoric has escalated in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for relocating Palestinians from Gaza. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has made clear that he will not allow the move to happen, even postponing a planned visit to the White House.

In his speech to the Conference of Presidents, Leiter said Sisi “plays both sides of the equation, but he is threatened by the Muslim Brotherhood.”

If the Israeli military decisively defeats the Muslim Brotherhood branch in the Gaza Strip—Hamas—Sisi is “going to be more open to cooperate with us on the ‘day after’ Hamas,” he argued.

The Israeli envoy called it “unconscionable that Egypt wouldn’t entertain the possibility of at least temporarily housing some of the [Palestinian] refugees, particularly in light of the fact that members of Sisi’s family are running a travel agency in which they take tens of thousands of dollars from Gazans who want to get out of the area.”