One Israeli official told Axios the request for US intervention came after direct talks with Cairo failed to make progress. Another said that “what the Egyptians are doing in Sinai is very serious and we are very concerned.”
Officials noted that the US-led multinational observer force in Sinai has reduced overflights, limiting monitoring of the situation and making it worse.
An Egyptian official, according to the report, denied the Israeli claims and said the Trump administration “hasn’t raised the issue with Egypt recently.”
Egypt has reinforced its border with besieged Gaza during the genocidal war of Israel, warning Tel Aviv against forcing Palestinians into Sinai and calling such a move a threat to its national security.
Securing border
On Saturday, Egypt said that its military deployment in the Sinai Peninsula is aimed at securing national borders and is consistent with a 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
“The forces present in Sinai primarily aim to secure the Egyptian borders against all risks, including terrorism and smuggling, and this is carried out within prior coordination with the parties to the peace treaty,” Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) said in a statement.
It added that Egypt has never violated a treaty or agreement in its history and remains fully committed to preserving the peace accord.
Egypt also reiterated its rejection of any attempt to expand the carnage in Gaza or to expel Palestinians from their land.
Cairo reaffirmed support for the establishment of a Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967, borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.