What is behind Egypt’s escalating criticism of Israel?https://en.majalla.com/node/327058/politics/what-behind-egypt%E2%80%99s-escalating-criticism-israel
What is behind Egypt’s escalating criticism of Israel?
As pressure on Egypt intensifies, Israel’s plan to fully occupy Gaza City risks igniting a major crisis with Cairo
Jack GUEZ / AFP
Palestinian citizens of Israel protest near the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv, against the closure of the Rafah crossing and the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip on July 31, 2025.
What is behind Egypt’s escalating criticism of Israel?
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s recent description of the war in Gaza as “systematic genocide” might have surprised some people. The Egyptian leader, who has traditionally maintained a cautious stance toward Israel and sought to position Egypt as a mediator in the conflict, even said the war was now one of annihilation, aimed at erasing the Palestinian issue entirely.
This shift in language coincided with similar comments by the Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, who labelled the war “a stain on the conscience of the international community” and also used “systematic genocide” to describe Israel’s unremitting assault on Gaza. A few days later, on 9 August, Abdelatty said his country would prevent the depopulation of Gaza by all means.
This escalation in official rhetoric is inconsistent with Egypt’s longstanding role as a key mediator, with officials historically utilising the language of diplomacy. Such a stance sought to preserve Egypt’s impartiality and avoid antagonising any party in the conflict. This did not, however, lead to a complete cessation of Egyptian opposition to the war and Israel’s atrocities.
Nevertheless, this is the first time Egypt has used such powerful language to describe the killing and destruction inflicted by Israel upon the people of Gaza.
Those who have been closely watching the evolution of Egypt’s stance won't be surprised by the amplification of its tone. It comes hard on the heels of significant developments that have backed Egypt into a corner, while its increasingly sharp rhetoric raises questions about the future of Egypt-Israel relations.
Earlier this month, dozens of Palestinians protested against "Egypt's siege of Gaza" outside the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv, putting Cairo on the defensive
Growing frustration
This expression of Egyptian anger follows the failure of joint Egyptian-Qatari efforts to broker a deal for the phased release of Israeli hostages held by various Palestinian factions, including Hamas, in exchange for a ceasefire that could pave the way for an end to the war.
Cairo and Doha have pursued a deal since Israel pulled the plug on the ceasefire in March this year, sacrificing a brief two-month lull in the bombardment of Gaza for the sake of internal politics and coalition interests.
In mid-August, Hamas approved a ceasefire framework proposed by US envoy Steve Witkoff in June. Israel, however, has yet to reply to the new ceasefire initiative. This silence likely reinforces the conclusion reached by Egypt following five months of negotiations: that Israel cares little for the lives of its hostages in Gaza.
Far-right members of the Israeli government view the current situation as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand their country's territory and destroy dreams of Palestinian statehood once and for all. They are also capitalising on the seemingly unconditional support of US President Donald Trump to this end by commencing an offensive on Gaza City with the aim of full takeover and occupation of the entire Gaza Strip.
This is coupled with the intolerable conditions faced by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which include the planned construction of additional Jewish settlements, acts of annexation, and the implementation of discriminatory legislation in breach of international law. All of this comes at a time when several states have announced plans to recognise a Palestinian state in September, casting Israel's planned occupation of Gaza as a pre-emptive move to undermine these recognitions.
All this vexes Cairo, and the reasons behind this anger are rooted in Egypt's national security considerations.
But apart from posing a danger to Egypt's national security, these developments are taking place as humanitarian conditions in Gaza reach catastrophic levels. The amount of humanitarian aid entering the devastated territory is woefully inadequate, and the US-sponsored aid distribution mechanism—known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—has proven an utter failure, with its centres turning into death traps for aid-seekers.
People carry relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US-backed aid group that has circumvented the longstanding UN-led system in Gaza on June 8, 2025.
On 22 August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said an "entirely man-made" famine had taken root in Gaza City, the enclave's largest city, threatening an exponential increase in deaths.
This refocuses attention on Egypt's role in delivering aid to Gaza, especially as certain parties seek to shift the blame for Gaza's humanitarian crisis from Israel to Egypt.
El-Sisi has been at pains to emphasise his country's efforts to deliver aid to Gaza, even though Egypt regards this as a national security issue. This is why it keeps its side of the Rafah crossing—its only land link with the Palestinian territory—open. Gaza's side of the crossing has been occupied by Israel since May 2024, thus diminishing Egypt's geo-strategic relevance as a principal player in Gaza.
Aid trucks spend days—even weeks—in Sinai before they are allowed to enter Gaza. Most of the time, these trucks re-enter Sinai still fully loaded, having crossed at Rafah and travelling dozens of kilometres into Israel via the Israel-controlled Karem Abu Salem crossing, only to be turned back because the Israeli authorities object to their contents.
During a previous visit to Rafah in late November 2023, Al Majalla reported on the difficulties faced by aid trucks and the long time spent in the North Sinai town before being allowed to enter Gaza.
In pushing for the entry of aid, Egypt wants Gaza to be livable, defying Israel's desire to make the territory unfit for life. It also wants to prevent hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza from breaking into Egypt to escape hunger and Israeli attacks, knowing full well that this will open the door for its depopulation and eternal loss.
An Israeli tank in the southern Gaza Strip can be seen while thousands of Palestinians flee their homes towards the city of Rafah.
Nightmare scenario
The decision by Israel's security cabinet to fully occupy Gaza City complicates its relations with Egypt and risks turning them into a powder keg. The plan for full occupation includes the forcible displacement of close to one million people to southern Gaza, a few kilometres from the Egyptian border. This will aggravate humanitarian conditions as the Israeli army moves southward and attempts to defeat Hamas, further straining the distribution of aid.
Such a plan could trigger a massive exodus of Gaza residents into Egypt's Sinai—a nightmarish scenario for decision-makers in Cairo, who have been warning against this possibility since the beginning of the war.
By forcibly driving the Palestinians into Sinai, Israel would be violating the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt—the first between the Jewish state and an Arab country. How Egypt will react is anyone's guess. Recently, the governor of North Sinai, a commander of the Egyptian Second Field Army and a one-time head of Egypt's military intelligence, said Egypt would react violently if anybody encroached on its territory. His remarks were haphazard.
On 5 August, el-Sisi stressed that Egypt would not be a gateway for the displacement of the Palestinians. A few days later, he rejected Israel's plan to occupy Gaza. This firm Egyptian stance casts doubt on Israel's ability to move forward with its plan for Gaza.
The same stance puts Egypt and Israel on a collision course. Unless, of course, one of them beats a hasty retreat. Which party ultimately backs down will determine whether Israel remains confined to its current borders—for now—or whether those borders will shift permanently, reshaping the entire region.
