A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Israel is Said to OK Beefing Up Egyptian Troops in Sinai

Under the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, Israel must approve of any strengthening of Egyptian troops in Sinai, but The Jerusalem Post is reporting that the IDF is prepared to approve any such requests as Egypt steps up its response to yesterday's bloody attacks near the border.

Officially, the last Army statement on yesterday's casualties spoke of 17 soldiers killed, but there are many reports suggesting the number was above 60.  Even the state-owned Ahram Online website says that "There have been discrepancies in reports about the number of those killed in the militant attacks."

1 comment:

David Mack said...

Except that this is the Middle East, where normal rules of rationality do not apply, Israel seems to have been remarkably stubborn in acknowledging that more robust Egyptian deployments in Sinai serve Israel's security interests.