MEE staff
Middle East Eye / 20 September 2025
Netanyahu asks Trump administration to intervene over alleged violations of 1979 peace treaty.
Israel is “concerned” about Egypt’s growing military presence in the Sinai Peninsula, a senior Israeli official told Axios [see below], as tensions between the two countries rise.
The reported buildup has become a major point of contention between Cairo and Tel Aviv in recent months.
After failing to resolve the matter through direct talks with Egyptian officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly asked the Trump administration to intervene, Axios reported on Saturday, citing one US official and two Israeli officials.
During a meeting on Monday, Netanyahu presented US Secretary of State Marco Rubio with a list of activities he claims constitute serious violations of the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.
According to Israeli officials, these violations include the construction of military infrastructure that could be used for offensive operations in areas where only lightly armed forces are permitted under the terms of the treaty.
They added that Egypt has built underground military facilities and extended runways at airbases in Sinai to accommodate fighter jets.
Israeli officials suspect the underground sites could be intended for missile storage, though they admit there is currently no concrete evidence to support this claim.
“What the Egyptians are doing in Sinai is very serious, and we are very concerned,” an Israeli official told Axios.
Another official said Israel had raised the issue with Egypt through diplomatic and military channels, but the discussions yielded no progress.
Israeli sources also claimed that Egypt failed to offer a satisfactory explanation for the buildup.
An Egyptian official told Axios that the Trump administration had not raised the issue with Cairo and denied Israel’s allegations.
A separate Egyptian source told Haaretz that the military presence in Sinai is driven entirely by Cairo’s fear that Israel may attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza into Egyptian territory.
Egypt on alert
Last month, Middle East Eye revealed that Egypt had deployed additional forces along the Gaza border amid fears that Israel’s planned occupation of the strip could trigger a mass exodus of Palestinians into North Sinai.
A senior Egyptian military source said approximately 40,000 troops are now stationed in North Sinai, almost double the number permitted under the 1979 treaty.
“Egypt’s army is on the highest state of alert we’ve seen in years,” the source said, noting that Cairo had notified Israel of the reinforcements.
“Egypt insists the mobilisation is defensive, but has made it equally clear that any strike on its territory would be met with a firm response,” the source added.
Egypt has reportedly deployed armoured vehicles, Chinese air defence systems, special forces, and M60 battle tanks in and around the cities of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid, as well as near al-Jura village, close to the Gaza border.
Earlier this month, MEE also revealed that Egyptian intelligence uncovered Israeli plots to target Hamas leaders in Cairo, and warned that any such action would provoke a strong military response.
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Netanyahu asked U.S. to press Egypt on military build-up in Sinai
Barak Ravid
Axios / September 20, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the Trump administration to press Egypt to scale down a recent military build-up in the Sinai Peninsula, one U.S. official and two Israeli officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: Israeli officials say the Egyptian military build-up in Sinai has become another significant point of tension between the countries as the war in Gaza continues.
Behind the scenes: During their meeting in Jerusalem on Monday, Netanyahu presented Secretary of State Marco Rubio with a list of activities in Sinai that he claimed were substantial violations by Egypt of its 1979 peace agreement with Israel, for which the U.S. serves as guarantor.
- Two Israeli officials said the Egyptian have been establishing military infrastructure — some of which could be used for offensive purposes — in areas where only light weapons are allowed under the treaty.
- The officials claimed the Egyptians extended runways at air bases in Sinai so that they could be used by fighter jets, and built underground facilities which Israeli intelligence believes could be used for storing missiles.
There’s no evidence the Egyptians are actually storing missiles in those facilities, the officials say.
- But they claim the Egyptians did not provide a reasonable explanation as to their purpose when asked by Israel through diplomatic and military channels.
What they’re saying: One Israeli official said Israel decided to ask the Trump administration to intervene after direct talks with the Egyptians showed no progress.
- “What the Egyptians are doing in Sinai is very serious and we are very concerned,” a second Israeli official said,
- The official said the situation is made worse by the fact that the U.S.-led multinational force of observers has dramatically decreased its overflights in Sinai, therefore limiting its ability to monitor the situation.
- An Egyptian official denied the Israeli claims and said the Trump administration hasn’t raised the issue with Egypt recently.
The big picture: Tensions between Israel and Egypt have been steadily increasing since the Netanyahu government was formed in late 2022.
- Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi haven’t had any public meetings for almost three years, and there is no public record of a phone call between them since June 2023.
Friction point: The Egyptians have grown increasingly worried during Israel’s war in Gaza that Netanyahu and his government want to push some or all of the two million Palestinians in Gaza into Sinai.
- The Egyptians boosted their forces on the border with Gaza and said an influx of Palestinian refugees would be treated as a threat to Egypt’s national security. Sisi’s government has also warned Israel against actions that could undermine their peace agreement.
- Netanyahu, meanwhile, criticized Egypt publicly for its refusal to accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza. He recently accused Egypt of “imprisoning against their will residents in Gaza who want to leave a war zone.”
The latest: After the Israeli strike on Qatar earlier this month, Sisi sent a message directly to the Israeli people during a speech in Doha, warning the Netanyahu government was endangering the peace agreement with Egypt and making further normalization with countries in the region impossible.
What to watch: The Egyptians have also alarmed Israeli officials with discussions of a joint Arab military force as a response to the Israeli strike in Doha.
