A Major Egyptian Project in Sinai Disturbs Israel

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The giant infrastructure projects launched by the Egyptian government in the Sinai Peninsula continue to provoke waves of escalating controversy and concern within Israeli media and political circles.

In recent hours, Israeli media have highlighted the Egyptian railway project extending 500 kilometers from Al-Firdan repeatedly through East Port Said, Bir al-Abd, and Al-Arish to Taba, considering that this logistical corridor carries with it a "dual use" that enhances the military logistical capabilities of the Egyptian army on the eastern border.

While Egyptian authorities assert that the project represents a comprehensive economic and developmental step to connect Sinai with the mainland and change the demographic map of the country.

According to reports published in Israeli newspapers, Tel Aviv views the new railway line as a transformation that goes beyond civil development, as it constitutes a permanent and robust infrastructure that gives Cairo an advantage in transporting supplies, vehicles, and fuel during crises at high speed, thereby reducing the natural obstacles of the desert.

Israeli media links this project to the development of the Al-Arish maritime port and the expansion of Al-Arish International Airport to create two parallel runways, considering these moves to have military dimensions, and calling for a reassessment of the security arrangements stipulated in the security annex of the 1979 peace treaty.

On the Egyptian side, the Ministry of Transport places the project within its comprehensive developmental framework, emphasizing that it aims to connect mining areas, industrial complexes, and maritime ports directly to the national railway network and the Nile Valley.

The ministry also clarified that the first sector between Al-Fardan and Bir al-Abd, approximately 100 kilometers long, has already been operated and developed, while work continues to extend the line eastward towards Al-Arish and southward towards Taba, to facilitate the movement of goods and passengers and serve international and regional trade.

In response to these Israeli claims, Egyptian military experts and analysts refuted these propositions, affirming that the comprehensive development of Sinai is a sovereign right of the Egyptian state within its national borders.

In this context, Major General Osama Mahmoud Kabeer, a lecturer at the College of Command and Staff at the Military Academy for Higher and Strategic Studies, stated in exclusive remarks to "Al Arabiya.net" that it is not new for Israeli media to discuss the development projects undertaken by the Egyptian state in Sinai. He revealed that four years ago, they addressed the development of Al-Arish Airport, followed by Al-Joura Airport, and the water siphons in Serapium, in addition to the giant road networks.

The senior official clarified that these platforms "seek to mislead the Israeli street" by linking internal development projects to threats against Israeli national security, ignoring the sovereign right guaranteed to any state to manage and develop its lands, and emphasizing that these campaigns are an attempt to rally support for Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which is facing a sharp decline in popularity.

For his part, the former head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, Major General Mohamed Rashad, emphasized that the development of Sinai represents Egypt's primary strategic option for protecting its eastern borders. He told "Al Arabiya.net" that the development of Sinai is a strategic goal for Egypt after decades of neglect, adding that restructuring the demographic composition of Sinai and linking it to the valley through transportation and railway networks has become essential for achieving stability and national security.

Rashad pointed out that urbanization and development thwart any future ambitions to encroach on Egyptian lands, and that establishing a railway line connecting the valley to Arish and Taba facilitates and speeds up transportation.

He concluded by stating that the development and reconstruction of Sinai annoys Israel because it fortifies Sinai "against any thoughts of invading it in the future," affirming that Cairo has become accustomed to such repeated Israeli complaints with every developmental project, and does not pay attention to them, but continues to work on everything that secures its borders and lands and preserves its sovereignty.