Netanyahu Requests US to Urge Egypt to Decrease Troops in Sinai

(MENAFN) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly appealed to the Trump administration to exert pressure on Egypt to lessen its military presence in the Sinai Peninsula, according to a report released Saturday by an American news platform.

The outlet stated, “Israeli officials say the Egyptian military build-up in Sinai has become another significant point of tension between the countries as the war in Gaza continues.”

Quoting one US representative and two Israeli officials, the platform explained that Netanyahu handed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during their meeting on Monday in Jerusalem, a list of Egyptian maneuvers in Sinai that he argued severely breach the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, which the United States guarantees.

The Camp David Accords, which established peace between Egypt and Israel, were signed in Washington in 1979 by then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

As part of that agreement, the Sinai Peninsula was partitioned into specified military zones with different restrictions on the presence of forces and weaponry for both Egypt and Israel.

According to two Israeli officials cited in the report, Egypt has been enlarging its defense infrastructure, “some of which could be used for offensive purposes” in regions where only light arms are permitted under the accord.

They pointed to expanded “runways at air bases in Sinai so that they could be used by fighter jets and built underground facilities which Israeli intelligence believes could be used for storing missiles.”

While there is no proof that missiles are stored at those locations, the platform quoted Israeli officials as saying that Egypt has not provided a convincing justification, despite repeated Israeli efforts through diplomatic and military avenues.

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