A senior Israeli army officer has said, as reported by Safa news agency, that the Egyptian authorities are “closer to Israel than Hamas” and they “put more pressure” on the besieged Gaza Strip “than is needed,” reported Middle East Monitor.
The officer’s comments were first reported by The Economist and the Israeli media. He said, “Egypt’s hostility to Hamas has become greater than its hostility to Israel.”
According to the magazine, the comments were made during a meeting about the notable and improving relations between the regime of Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Israel, with several Israeli officials attending and hosted by Egypt. Moreover, the latest visit by Egypt’s FM Sameh Shoukry to Israel ,which was the first state visit for an Egyptian foreign minister in nine years, yet it looked like the meeting of old friends and partners.They watched football together, exaggeratedly exchanged pleasantries, and met in Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv.
Since the military coup led by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi against the first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi. The relation between the al-Sisi regime and Israel has developed on the security and intelligence levels in Sinai Peninsula. In this context, it has been revealed that Israeli drones have been given permission by the Egyptians to strike targets in the Sinai Peninsula. Safa explained that this claim came one week after similar remarks that were made by a retired Israeli official, who revealed that Israel’s drone attacks during the previous year were planned in full cooperation with the Egyptian army. Moreover, the al-Sisi regime is working on enhancing intimate diplomatic relation to open the way for full normalization.
