Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Despite the facts that it was Israel that first broke the peace treaty with Egypt, by occupying the Philadelphi corridor, that Prime Minister Netanyahu publicly spoke about his desire for Great Israel, meaning reaching the Nile and that two million Palestinians are being forced to flee to the Egyptian border, a clear national security red line for Egypt, Netanyahu had the audacity to formally asked the United States to intervene with Egypt over what Israel describes as a troubling and unauthorized military build-up in the Sinai Peninsula.
The request, conveyed during Netanyahu’s recent meeting in Jerusalem with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reflects deepening tensions between Israel and Egypt, two countries bound by a decades-old peace treaty that is increasingly under strain amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
According to one U.S. official and two Israeli officials who spoke with Axios, Netanyahu presented Secretary Rubio with a detailed list of Egyptian activities in Sinai that Israeli intelligence views as significant violations of the 1979 Camp David Accords. The treaty, brokered by the United States and serving as a cornerstone of regional stability, places strict limitations on military presence in specific zones of the Sinai Peninsula. The U.S. acts as a guarantor of the agreement through its role in the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), an international peacekeeping mission stationed in the area.
Israeli officials claim that in recent months, Egypt has expanded military infrastructure in areas where only lightly armed forces are permitted. According to intelligence shared by Israel, this includes the extension of runways at air bases, potentially to accommodate fighter jets and the construction of underground facilities believed to be capable of storing missiles. While there is no confirmed evidence that missiles are currently being housed in these bunkers, Israel maintains that Egypt has failed to provide a credible explanation for the developments despite repeated diplomatic and military inquiries. This echoes Israel’s failure to provide any credible information on their nuclear capabilities.
Frustrated by what they characterize as a lack of transparency and unwillingness to engage constructively, Israeli officials have turned to Washington for mediation. “What the Egyptians are doing in Sinai is very serious and we are very concerned,” said one senior Israeli official. Another explained that direct negotiations with Cairo had reached a deadlock, prompting Israel to seek U.S. involvement.
Adding to Israel’s unease is a reported reduction in the frequency of surveillance flights by the U.S.-led MFO, which has traditionally played a key role in monitoring compliance with the treaty. The diminished oversight, Israeli officials argue, hampers the ability of international actors to assess the situation on the ground and contributes to growing distrust.
Egypt has firmly denied the Israeli allegations. A senior Egyptian official told Axios that Cairo has not received any recent communication from the Trump administration regarding the matter and dismissed the concerns as unfounded.
The dispute comes against a backdrop of steadily deteriorating relations between the two nations, particularly since Netanyahu’s return to power in late 2022. Despite the strategic partnership and a shared interest in regional security, Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi have not held a public meeting in nearly three years. There is also no public record of a phone call between the two leaders since June 2023.
Tensions have been further exacerbated by the Gaza war, now in its second year. Egypt has grown increasingly alarmed by suggestions explicit or implied, from members of Netanyahu’s government that Gaza’s Palestinian population could be relocated to the Sinai Peninsula. Cairo has rejected any such notion outright, viewing it as a direct threat to its sovereignty and national security.
In response, Egypt has bolstered its military presence along the border with Gaza, insisting that it will not allow any influx of Palestinian refugees. President Sisi’s government has also warned Israel against actions that could jeopardize the fragile peace treaty.
Netanyahu, for his part, has criticized Egypt’s stance, accusing Cairo of refusing to open its border to allow Gazans to flee the conflict. “Egypt is imprisoning against their will residents in Gaza who want to leave a war zone,” Netanyahu recently claimed, sparking a diplomatic backlash.
The latest diplomatic flashpoint came earlier this month following an Israeli airstrike in Doha, which reportedly targeted a Hamas-linked figure with Qatari ties. In a rare public rebuke, President Sisi used a speech in Doha to send a message directly to the Israeli public, warning that Netanyahu’s actions were endangering the peace agreement and risking the collapse of broader normalization efforts with Arab states.
Further complicating the situation, Israeli officials are increasingly concerned by reports that Egypt has engaged in discussions about forming a joint Arab military force, a move they see as a direct response to Israel’s military actions and a potential escalation in regional opposition to Israeli policy.
As the war in Gaza grinds on, the growing mistrust between Israel and Egypt, once considered a model of post-conflict normalization in the Middle East, poses a serious challenge to regional stability. The United States, long a key broker in the relationship, now finds itself once again drawn into the complex diplomacy of the Sinai.
