Egyptians and Israelis warn of a new risk of war in the Gaza Strip
Egyptians and Israelis warn of a new risk of war in the Gaza Strip
"Is it approaching a war?" Asks a concerned seller in Cairo when she learns that she is talking to a journalist. The ominous question of the possibility of a war between Egypt and Israel is currently going through many discussions in the country.
concerns in the Egyptian population
These fears about the war reflect growing concerns within a population that is exhausted by consecutive economic crises and is horrified by the destruction that Israel Gaza and Lebanon has added. In the past few weeks, the diplomatic controversy about the proposal of US President Donald Trump, to violently pass Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt, further turned and transformed these conversations into passionate debates.
Media Panic Power
The same question and alarming answers have reflected in Egyptian, Arabic and Israeli media. An Israeli website published a AI-generated scenario about an attack that would destroy the strategically important high embankment of Egypt. An Egyptian YouTuber posted a AI-generated video of an attack on Israel's nuclear reactor. Allegations and threats are exchanged on various social media, while TV programs are discussing evidence of the war preparations on both sides.
According to a report by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, this "feeling of war" is heated by misleading information that is spread by right -wing extremist media in Israel. Many of the claims on social media and on television have been invalidated by an Egypt military march at the border.
complications with hostages
Families of hostages that are recorded in Gaza have accused Netanyahu of stirred in negotiations to relieve the prisoners in order to appease hardliners in his government - an assertion that he denied. Egypt and other mediators try to save the already fragile ceasefire that came into force in January.
escalation in the Sinai
The main contestation is whether Cairo has moved more soldiers and military equipment to the Sinai when the security provisions of the 1979 Peace Treaty allow Israel. This contract, conveyed by the United States, ended decades between the two countries and determined borders for Egypt's military presence in Sinai, which borders on Israel. He initiated an era of close security policy cooperation between the two countries and the USA.
Egypt emphasizes that it adheres to the rules. In 2016, while it was fighting a local ISIS group, Israel's approval was given to expand its military presence in Sinai. When Egypt reinforced the border with Gaza last year and increased its security, Egyptian officials insisted on the fact that the use within the framework of 2016 remained between the two countries.
fears on both sides
In September, Egypt carried out a military maneuver in Sinai with sharp ammunition, followed by a military parade in October, in which President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi took part. Media on both sides of the border had published recordings of these events and reported that they were signs of possible war preparations.
These alarm signs are not limited to the media; Israeli official bodies also express their concerns. "We have seen basic camps that can only be used for offensive operations," said Israel's ambassador in the USA, Yechiel Leiter, at a meeting with American Jewish leaders in January. He claimed Egypt violated the peace treaty and that this was "very urgently" treated.
Security and military analyzes
Egyptian and Israeli military spokesman did not respond to questions regarding the alleged missions and whether they would be a violation of the security agreements. Military analysts on both sides, however, rejected reports on Egyptian troop movements in Sinai as baseless. "No (Egyptian) tank enters the Sinai without the consent of Israel," argued Hossam EL-Hamalawy, an Egyptian security analyst based in Berlin, and added that the Egyptian military did not have the capacity to wage a war with Israel.
The word about the location
In a rare TV interview with the traditionally media-shy military, a leading Egyptian military commander, Maj. Gen. Ahmad Mahmoud Safi El-Din, carried out on Thursday that Egypt's military spending and efforts to modernize his arsenal aim to "preserve peace and stability in the region". The outgoing Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi also addressed the growing worries, but said that this was not a priority at the moment.
the risk of a breakdown
The threat of war is in the shade of domestic political problems with which the leaders of both countries are faced. However, analysts also indicate a number of events that could endanger the contract. "Rational heads do not want the contract to be in danger.
A possible crucial factor could be the expulsion of Gazaners to Egypt, which Fahmy sees as a threat to Egypt's national security. In the months of Israel's operation in the border town of Rafah, which began in May, Egypt warned that the forced displacement of over 1 million Palestinians in Egypt, as suggested by some Israeli officials, would endanger the contract.
peace and diplomacy under pressure
A year ago, Sisi, the Egyptian President, Reporters and his European colleagues, said that such expulsion would mean shift to the Palestinian struggle against Israel to Egyptian area. "Sinai would become a basis for fighting against Israel ... Israel would attack Egyptian territory as an answer," he said. When Trump introduced his plan to move Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan and to transform Gaza into a Mediterranean riviera, this scenario was already in the minds of the people."The Israelis did not take the Trump plan seriously, but he was taken seriously on the Egyptian side," said Max Rodenbeck, project manager for Israel/Palestine at the International Crisis Group. They feared that the pressure in Washington D.C. Cairo could increase to follow the proposals, which is why the Egyptians had to make a political test of power in public in order to signal that the contract is in danger.
Arab nations did not want to create directly with the US president by entering a media dispute. In their rejection declarations, they said that they are looking forward to working with Trump to achieve peace in the region. Arab leaders are expected to come together in Cairo this week to present a counter -plan for Trump.
The future of the peace treaty
No matter whether Trump travels from his plan or not, a consciousness among the Arab nations is noticeable that the region, like the rest of the world, will enter unknown terrain during its second term. "Trump's proposal is in complete contradiction to the entire goal of a comprehensive peace between Arabs and Israelis," said Fahmy. He and the security experts, who spoke to CNN, rated the media excitement about a threatening war as not very realistic, but everyone was concerned about the growing intensity of fears.
There is an underlying fear that the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, the first between an Arab country and the Jewish state and the cornerstone of regional security, could be faced with its greatest threat since the signing 45 years ago.
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