Egypt rejects Israeli request to help foil Iranian retaliation

Egyptian officials inform Israeli delegation of limited involvement amid regional threats

An Iron Dome launcher fires an interceptor missile as rockets are fired from Gaza, on Sederot, Israel. Reuters

Egypt has turned down an Israeli request to join a group of countries to defend it against a possible retaliatory attack by Iran or its regional proxies, sources briefed on the matter told The National on Monday.

They said Israel was informed of Egypt’s position during talks in Cairo on Saturday between top Egyptian intelligence and security officials and a visiting Israeli delegation led by David Barnea, head of Israel’s Mossad and Ronen Bar of Shin Bet.

The widely anticipated attack on Israel would be in retaliation for the assassination last week of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and top Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut.

Israel has acknowledged carrying out the drone strike that killed Mr Shukr but not the attack that killed Mr Haniyeh. Hezbollah and Tehran have vowed to avenge both and attack Israel.

Israel initially stated that the delegation's visit to Cairo was intended to continue negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a deal to free Israeli hostages, despite the talks ultimately being suspended after the killing of Mr Haniyeh, Hamas's top negotiator.

Egypt’s role in the case of such an attack, the Israeli officials were told, will be restricted to the defence of its maritime and land borders as well as its airspace, according to the sources.

"We told them that our role will only be the defence of our country in the event of an attack on Israel," said one of the sources.

The Arab country, which has the largest army in the Middle East, has a modern air defence system, including its own German-made “Iron Dome” similar to the one used by Israel to intercept and destroy incoming missiles.

Iran-backed militants in the region, including the Houthi rebels in Yemen, have on several occasions attacked Israel with drones and ballistic missiles since the war broke out in the coastal enclave last October.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia are the two nations that would normally be on the path of projectiles fired from Yemen to hit targets in Israel.

At least two of these projectiles inadvertently struck Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula near Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat during the early days of the conflict, causing injuries and material damage but no fatalities.

The Houthis have also been attacking shipping in the Red Sea, actions that have significantly reduced traffic in Egypt’s Suez Canal that links the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. The slumping traffic has cost Cairo billions of dollars in lost revenue from the strategic waterway.

Underground tunnel claims

The expected attack could be similar to one caused by an Israeli strike targeting the Iranian Embassy compound in Syria earlier this year.

In response, Iran in April launched dozens of bomb-carrying drones, cruise and ballistic missiles towards Israel.

The US and other nations shot down many of the projectiles, some of which were believed to have been launched from Yemen.

However, this time Hezbollah – Tehran’s powerful proxy in Lebanon – may get involved as the armed group seeks revenge for last week's killing of its top military commander.

If this happens, the attack could strain Israel's air defence, leading to more missile strikes and increasing the risk of casualties.

Egypt’s decision to stay away from any group formed to defend Israel comes at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is looking to enlist the help of allies, chiefly its main backer the US, to defend it.

It also comes at a critical juncture in its relations with Israel, with which it signed a milestone, US-sponsored peace treaty in 1979.

Egypt has been deeply angered by Israel’s capture in May of the Palestinian side of its land crossing with Gaza along with a strip that runs the length of its border with the coastal enclave.

It has also been critical of Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war which, according to figures released by local health authorities in the enclave, has killed more than 39,600 Palestinians.

Israel has also claimed that Hamas was receiving funds and arms through underground tunnels running under the Egypt-Gaza border.

Cairo dismissed the allegation again on Monday in a report published by local media. It said Israel’s claim was an attempt to cover up for its “failures” in Gaza and repeated that all tunnels leading to Gaza were destroyed eight years ago.

"We made it clear that we remain very angry over the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi corridor,” one of the sources told The National.

Egypt and Iran have for nearly two years been seeking to normalise their relations, which had been fraught with tension since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

However, the death in May of Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister in a helicopter crash froze the normalisation process just as the two regional powerhouses were readying to exchange ambassadors for the first time in more than 40 years.

The sources said the outbreak of the war between the Iranian-backed Hamas and Israel last October has made it untimely for Cairo to exchange ambassadors with Tehran.