Egypt has deployed its armed forces in Sinai near the borders with the Gaza Strip and Israel on high alert after the Israeli army established control over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border checkpoint, the National newspaper reported, citing BTA, citing unnamed sources.
According to the publication from the United Arab Emirates, Egyptian soldiers have been ordered to exercise maximum restraint in the event of provocations or incidents such as shrapnel or stray rocket strikes as a result of Israeli military operations near the border. Egypt has also increased the number of reconnaissance flights over the area. Israeli military units and armored vehicles are within a hundred meters or less of the Egyptian military, a proximity that raises the risk of clashes amid anti-Israel sentiment in Egypt since the Gaza conflict began, the sources said.
Egypt and Israel have been bound by a 1979 peace treaty that ended decades of hostilities, including four full-scale wars. Relations between the two neighboring countries are described as "cold peace", but in the last ten years, cooperation in the fight against terrorism and human and drug trafficking has led to their improvement.
The Egyptian army showed restraint already in the first days of the war in Gaza, when an Israeli tank mistakenly fired at an Egyptian post near the Kerem Shalom border crossing, as well as during Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian part of the border town of Rafah, the publication recalls.< /p>
Egypt was informed in advance by Israel of its intention to seize the Palestinian part of the Rafah border crossing, the sources said. The Israeli side has explained that the reason for the decision is the suspicions that the Palestinian movement “Hamas” receives funds and weapons through underground tunnels near the checkpoint, and that the operation aims to prevent militants from Gaza from infiltrating Egypt, which has been battling terrorist cells in the northeastern Sinai Peninsula for years.
According to one of the sources, Israel's actions are aimed at putting additional pressure on "Hamas" at a delicate moment in the negotiations to reach a truce. "Israel will not stay there for long, as the (ceasefire) agreement on the table provides for a complete withdrawal of the Israelis from Gaza," he explained.
Egypt fears that an Israeli ground operation in the city of Rafah, home to some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, could trigger a massive influx of Palestinians into Egypt, threatening its national security and leading to the liquidation of the Palestinian cause.
Meanwhile, the commander of US forces in the Middle East, Gen. Michael Kurila has assured the Egyptian authorities during his visit to Cairo on May 6 and 7 that the security of the country will not be disturbed by the Israeli actions in Rafah, the sources of "National" also inform.