Egypt strengthens Sinai security and mobilises forces amid rising tension with Israel

Neighbours and former enemies are seemingly on a collision course despite peace treaty

Egyptian army soldiers deployed near the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing Gaza. March 23, 2024. AFP

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi sounded like a man who has had enough of Israel's actions when he addressed the Arab-Islamic summit in Qatar this week. He called Israel an “enemy” – the first time an Egyptian leader has done so publicly in decades – and warned the 1979 peace treaty between them would be annulled if the current situation continued.

“Don't allow the work for peace done by those before us go to waste. If you do, regret will be of no use,” he said at the summit on Monday.

Mr El Sisi has been steadily stepping up his criticism of Israel in recent months, calling it out for starving Palestinians in Gaza and describing its military operation in the Palestinian territory as genocide.

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Beneath the talk, however, the former army general is quietly putting his army, the Middle East's largest, on a war footing to deal with the eventuality of Israel making living conditions in Gaza so intolerable that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians pour across the border into Egypt.

An Israeli strike on Gaza city on Wednesday. Reuters

Mr El Sisi has repeatedly stated that any movement of Palestinians into Egypt, whether voluntary or forced, would be a red line that he would not tolerate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in an interview this month that he would allow Gazans to leave through the Rafah crossing with Egypt but that “they would be blocked”.

His comment drew a sharp Egyptian response, with government statements suggesting that such a move would be a declaration of war.

Displaced Palestinians from Gaza city move south with their belongings. AFP

“The Egyptian red line has not yet been breached by Israel but no one can guarantee that this will not happen given the immense and barbaric pressure on Gaza residents that's pushing them towards the south,” said Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt's State Information Service.

As a precaution, Egypt has been exploring the consequences of mass Palestinian movement as a result of Israel's policies, according to Mr Rashwan.

Sources told The National that the likelihood of Egypt going to war with Israel remains low, but Mr El Sisi and his government are taking a host of military, logistical and mobilisation steps that they hope will deter the Israelis.

Egypt, the sources said, has recently deployed the Chinese-made, cutting-edge, HQ-9B air defence system in Sinai, the location of all four of its wars with Israel between 1948 and 1973.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. AP

Egypt has also been beefing up its forces in Sinai, with unconfirmed media reports talking about a new network of tunnels, heavily-protected aircraft hangars and airstrips.

Egyptian troops stationed at the border with Gaza are literally a stone's throw away from Israeli soldiers, who in May 2024 seized the narrow strip that runs the length of the border on the Palestinian side as well as the Rafah land crossing.

The sources also said that thousands of Sinai tribesmen who had been armed by the military to fight extremists in northern Sinai were being readied to play a supporting role if hostilities break out.

Egypt's military has also been building up emergency supplies of fuel, food and medicine, they said, while boosting efforts to ensure that the nation of 107 million has sufficient reserves of wheat, flour and cooking oil.

Domestic security agencies, the sources said, have run exhaustive drills in Sinai and Suez Canal cities to gauge the readiness of special police units to deal with the eventuality of terror attacks or dissidents taking advantage of any war to foment unrest.

A displaced Palestinian boy fleeing northern Gaza. Reuters

The state-influenced media and pro-government social media accounts have also been supporting patriotic narratives and trying to instil confidence in Mr El Sisi's leadership and the capability of his military.

Some television talk shows have been reminding Israel that Tel Aviv is only a short distance away from the Egyptian border and warned that going to war today would be worse than the last conflict in 1973.

Mr El Sisi's address at the Qatar summit came less than a week after Israel struck a residential district in the capital Doha in a bid to assassinate senior Hamas leaders who have been indirectly negotiating with Israeli delegates on an end to the Gaza war and the release of hostages.

The leaders, according to Hamas, survived the Israeli strike, which killed at least six people, five of them associated with the group.

The leaders attacked in Doha are frequently in Cairo, where they have since the start of the 23-month Gaza war held talks with Egyptian officials acting as mediators alongside representatives from Qatar and the US.