Egyptian tanks deployed near the Rafah border crossing in northern Egypt on October 31, 2023. (Credit: Khaled Desouki/AFP)
Israel is reportedly asking for the dismantling of Egyptian military infrastructure in the Sinai desert, which is expanding without Tel Aviv's agreement, an Israeli security official said Monday during an exchange with journalists, as reported by Israeli media.
"Egypt has deployed forces beyond the authorized quota, expanded port facilities and extended airport runways," he said, according to the Jerusalem Post.
He described these measures as a "serious violation of the security annex from the peace agreement between the two countries," adding that "Tel Aviv will not accept this situation," the Israeli site Kikar HaShabbat specifies.
Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, ending the war between the two countries and returning control of the Sinai to Egypt while limiting the number of troops Cairo can deploy there, especially in the northern part along the border with Gaza and Israel.
Many Egyptians saw this restriction as a blow to their national sovereignty.
In Sept. 2024, Egypt justified an increase in its military deployment in the Sinai, following the Israeli takeover of the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land between southern Gaza and Egypt, during the Israeli offensive on Gaza that began in Oct. 2023, after the Oct. 7 attack.
A "reversible" presence
Regarding the entry of Egyptian forces exceeding the set limits, the Israeli official clarified that "such actions are reversible - it is always possible to withdraw the tanks," reports the Jerusalem Post.
Israel has asked Egypt and the U.S. to dismantle the Egyptian army's military infrastructure in the Sinai, the security official added. "Washington is responsible for preserving the peace agreement (of March 26, 1979, between Egypt and Israel) and must ensure that it is applied in letter and spirit," he finally declared.
On Feb. 27, former Israeli army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, expressed security concerns over the Egyptian army. "Egypt has a large-scale army, equipped with sophisticated weapons, planes, submarines, and a large number of tanks and infantry soldiers," he said, during a ceremony with officers.
While he explained that the Israeli government did not consider the Egyptian army an immediate threat, he said "this could change in an instant."
"In 2011, Mohammad Morsi came to power with the Muslim Brotherhood. All this enormous military apparatus suddenly found itself under a new leadership, which could have shifted overnight," he estimated. Democratically elected following the "Arab Spring" of 2011, Mohammad Morsi was overthrown by a military coup on July 3, 2013, led by the current president, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, close to Washington.
