Egypt Strengthens Border Security as Tension Rises with Israel
The border guard of Egypt to Gaza in northeastern Sinai this week deployed more armoured personnel carriers and soldiers than before, which can be interpreted as an early sign of the possibility of deterioration in relations between Egypt and Israel.
Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, residents of Sheikh Zuweid’s standard military face zone, talked about fifteen armoured personnel carriers carrying combat gear heading towards Egypt’s border with Gaza on Wednesday evening. The next thing I saw, a troop of armoured cars rolled into the village of Al-Joura south of Sheikh Zuweid.
This extra military push, especially in the context of Israel-Egypt’s rivalry over Israel’s assault on Rafah, a city close to the southern Gaza border, creates additional gloom. One week ago, Israel occupied the Rafah border crossing and launched an armed offensive in the town that has been sheltering about 1 million people. Five million displaced Palestinians.
As a result, attacks have put a heavy strain on the relationship between Egypt and Israel despite 45 years of having a peaceful treaty between the two and close security cooperation. According to an Egyptian military source, there was no cooperation or coordination between Israel and Egypt for the Israeli attacks, as stated by the Middle East Eye.
After the occupation of Rafah, the crossing is closed, shutting the door to any humanitarian aid until Egypt declines to meet all Israeli needs of actually allowing the crossing again. The Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi explained that “the Israeli ambition in controlling the Rafah border crossing is only to tighten the siege of the separated enclave”.
The deteriorating Egyptian diplomatic relations with Israel have been becoming a serious problem. As significant as the Wall Street Journal reported the lower level of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Israel, I was. Egypt might consider sending its ambassador back to the country.
Besides, Egypt has declared its decision to be a part of the campaign of Tony Blair and South Africa against Israel in the International Court because of the accusation Israel committed genocide. In the same condemnation move, the foreign minister of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, gives an example of Israel blocking aid.
Diplomats and analysts are examining whether the verbal confrontation will threaten the security relationship maintained by Egypt’s generations-old military and intelligence officers. A former senior diplomat of a Western country has commented on the situation, saying that additional soldiers deployed to Sinai are very serious and that allied forces do not want to take an active role in the conflict.
President Sisi of Egypt also played an influential part in attempts to solve the crisis. At a Forum of Arab League Summit in Bahrain yesterday, he attributed the responsibility to the delay of the cease-fire to Israel. He said: “We were astonished that while Israel continued to run away from its responsibilities and evade sincere attempts to stop” fire. He underlined that, in his opinion, the “delusion” lies in considering the only means to achieve objectives or define security in armed forces and military actions.
Besides that, Egypt, together with Qatar, derives peace from the cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. On the one hand, this more fabulous military presence, added to the diplomatic conflict and its consequences, demonstrates the growing gap between Egypt and Israel, which may result in an unstable peace agreement.
