’Israeli’ Soldiers Increases Presence on Egyptian Border

Local Editor

"Israeli" soldiers had increased its presence on the "Israeli"-Egyptian border following a wave of terror attacks in the Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday that claimed the lives of 17 Egyptian soldiers.

The Zionist entity's War Ministry also decided to close the Nitzana and Kerem Shalom crossings on the southern border on Wednesday, but re-opened Kerem Shalom on Thursday morning.

After a series of situation assessment at the "Israeli" army's Southern Command on Wednesday, the army decided to raise the level of alert along the Sinai border, specifically in Kerem Shalom - where the borders of the Zionist entity, Egypt and the Gaza Strip meet - which had been prone to attacks in the past.

Furthermore, "Israel" and Egypt maintain their security coordination, but so far the Egyptian military had yet to ask "Israel" for permission to increase its troops beyond their current numbers in northern Sinai, as the peace accord between the two governments mandated.

The recent wave of terror attacks in Egypt came at the height of an upswing in ties between "Israel" and Egypt, which started over the past year since Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came into power, in light of the common enemies and interests the two countries share.

The upswing in ties between the two governments had primarily been evident in the relationship between Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President al-Sisi, who had been maintaining a close but mostly discrete relationship.

An indication of that were comments Netanyahu made on Wednesday, saying that the Zionist entity is partners with the Egyptians, and many other states in the Middle East and the world in their so-called fight against terrorism.

Moreover, ties between the two countries had become even closer recently as "Israel's" Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold visited Cairo after being invited by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. This was the first time the Foreign Ministry director-general visited Egypt since 2011.

Last week, it was reported that al-Sisi appointed Hazem Khairat, 57, as Egypt's new ambassador to "Israel", three years after the previous ambassador was recalled due to "Operation Pillar of Defense".

Another sign of the upswing in relations is Egyptian willingness to allow the construction of a new "Israeli" Embassy in Cairo after the previous one was evacuated in September 2011 when rioters tried to take it by force.

On the diplomatic-military front, the Zionist entity allowed Egypt to increase its forces and the arms they were bringing into Sinai in order to fight terrorism in the peninsula, even if it was not in accordance with the military appendix in the peace accord between the two countries.

However, the mutual aid between "Israel" and Egypt served both nations with regard to the threat posed by a nuclear Iran.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team