"Logistics corridor"... a major Egyptian project in Sinai that disturbs Israel

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The giant infrastructure projects launched by the Egyptian government in the Sinai Peninsula continue to raise rising waves of controversy and anxiety within the media and political circles in Israel.

During the past hours, Israeli media highlighted the Egyptian railway network project extending 500 kilometers from Al-Ferdan, passing through eastern Port Said, Bir al-Abd and Al-Arish, all the way 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 the Egyptian authorities confirmed that the project represents a comprehensive economic and development step to link Sinai with the valley and change the demographic map of the country.

While Tel Aviv considered the new railway line to be a transformation that goes beyond the limits of civil development, as it constitutes a permanent and strong infrastructure that gives Cairo the advantage of transporting supplies, machinery and fuel in times of crises with great speed, and in a way that reduces the natural obstacles of the desert.

It also linked this project to the development of the Al-Arish sea port and the expansion of Al-Arish International Airport to create two parallel runways, considering this to be movements with military dimensions, and calling for the need to re-evaluate the security arrangements stipulated in the security annex to the 1979 peace treaty, according to the Israeli press.

On the Egyptian side, the Ministry of Transport placed the project within its comprehensive development framework, stressing that it aims to connect mining areas, industrial complexes, and sea ports directly to the national railway network and the Nile Valley.

The Ministry also explained that the first sector between Al-Fardan and Bir Al-Abd, with a length of about 100 kilometers, has already been operated and developed, while work continues to extend the line east towards Al-Arish and south towards Taba, to facilitate the movement of goods and passengers and serve international and regional trade.

In response to these Israeli allegations, Egyptian military experts and analysts refuted these proposals, stressing that the comprehensive development of Sinai is an inherent sovereign right of the Egyptian state within its national borders.

In this context, the lecturer at the Command and Staff College at the Military Academy for Postgraduate and Strategic Studies, Major General Staff Osama Mahmoud Kabir, said in exclusive statements to Al Arabiya.net that it is not new for the Israeli media to talk about development projects undertaken by the Egyptian state in Sinai. He revealed that 4 years ago, I discussed the development of Al-Arish Airport, then Al-Joura Airport, and the water tanks in Serapeum, as well as the giant road networks.

Kabir also explained that these platforms “seek to mislead the Israeli street” by linking internal development projects to harming Israeli national security, ignoring the sovereign right guaranteed to any country to manage and develop its lands, stressing that these campaigns are considered an attempt to mobilize support for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which is facing a sharp decline in its popularity.

For his part, the former Undersecretary of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, Major General Mohamed Rashad, stressed that the reconstruction of Sinai represents Egypt’s first strategic option to protect 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 restoring the demographic structure of Sinai and linking it to the valley through transportation and railway networks has become necessary to achieve stability and national security. He pointed out that urbanization and development block the way for any future ambitions to encroach on Egyptian lands, and the establishment of a railway linking the valley to Al-Arish and Taba will achieve ease and speed in transportation.

While the speaker concluded by stating that the reconstruction and development of Sinai bothers Israel because it fortifies Sinai “against any thought of invading it in the future.” He stressed that Cairo has become accustomed to such repeated Israeli complaints with every development project, and does not pay attention to them, but rather continues to work on everything that secures its borders and lands and preserves its sovereignty.