Current tensions between Egypt and Israel over control of the Philadelphi Corridor are fuelling power moves on the chess board between the two former foes. Behind these moves lie reservations—at least by Egypt's current leaders and decision-makers—over the country's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
The military appendix of the treaty—which ended the war between the two countries and gave back control of the Sinai to Cairo—restricts the number of troops Egypt is allowed to deploy in the Sinai—particularly the northern part along its border with Gaza and Israel. Many Egyptians saw this restriction as a blow to their national sovereignty.
This is why many in the country now see a silver lining to Israel's 7 May reoccupation of the corridor—a 14-kilometre stretch of land that separates the Gaza Strip from Egypt—it now has an excuse to boost its own military presence in the strategic desert. A major deployment of Egyptian troops in the Sinai will have major and long-lasting implications for regional security.
The Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Khalifa, paid a surprise visit to the border area with Gaza on 5 September in what was viewed as a clear message to Israel: We are here as long as you are there.
Lt. Gen. Khalifa toured several positions along Sinai's border with Gaza. Footage aired by the Egyptian army showed him chatting with troops just metres away from Sinai's Mediterranean coast. One video showed him sitting and sharing a meal with the troops so close to the border that Israeli troops could have gotten a whiff.
Egypt has been bolstering its security presence in Sinai since October of last year amid fears of a spillover of violence from Gaza. Egypt also suspects that Israel's destructive bombing campaign—which has made much of the Strip uninhabitable—had the hidden aim of encouraging Palestinians to flee to the Sinai. If this happens, it would be a final blow to Palestinian statehood dreams and turn the Sinai into a permanent refugee camp—something that would harm Egypt's own national security as Palestinian fighters could turn it into a launching pad for future attacks on Israel.
According to Samir Ghattas, head of the Middle East Centre for Strategic Studies, Egypt must bolster its troop presence along its border with Gaza to deal with the growing security challenges it has faced since October of last year.
"Israel's occupation of the Philadelphi Corridor was the final straw," he told Al Majalla.
Egypt has been tight-lipped over the number of troops and type of equipment it has deployed in Sinai, especially in the northern part, since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza.
Peace treaty conditions
The military appendix of the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty divides Sinai into three sections, each with their respective limits on troop presence. It allows Egypt to deploy only 750 policemen with light arms in Area C which includes the border area with Gaza.
This limited troop presence in Sinai has made this Egyptian territory vulnerable over the years. After the 2011 downfall of longstanding president Hosni Mubarak—a development that precipitated unprecedented security chaos and disintegration of the Egyptian security system—the territory became a hotbed for extremism and terrorism.
A near decade-long counter-terrorism operation to free Sinai from the grip of the extremists finally paid off last year but it cost Egypt hundreds of fallen troops and policemen, as well as sizable resources toward the war effort.
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During this period, Egypt brokered some agreements with Israel, which allowed it to deploy more troops and equipment to the Sinai, where it destroyed hundreds of smuggling tunnels between Sinai and Gaza.
Israel's troop presence in the Philadelphi Corridor not only violates its peace treaty with Egypt but is also in breach of the 2005 agreement reached with the Palestinian Authority upon its unilateral disengagement and withdrawal from Gaza. The agreement handed control of the corridor to the Palestinian Authority at the time before Hamas kicked out the PA in 2007.
"Egypt wants to send a message to Israel that it might be difficult to restrain its troops deployed along the border with Gaza, should Israel stay in Philadelphi," Nasr Salem, the former assistant to the Egyptian minister of defence, told Al Majalla.
In late May this year, an exchange of fire took place between Egyptian and Israeli troops along the Sinai-Gaza border, which killed an Egyptian border guard.
