El-Dawiry, deputy director of the Egyptian Centre for Strategic Studies (ECSS), also outlined Egypt’s central role in the rapidly unfolding events since 7 October 2023 and the start of Israel’s brutal war on Gaza.
How have Egyptian-Israeli relations changed since 7 October 2023?
Egyptian-Israeli relations have grown increasingly strained since the war in Gaza began. The Israeli reaction to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood has far exceeded the bounds of what might reasonably be considered a proportional response. Israel has shed all restraints and unleashed a deliberate and systematic campaign of genocide against the Palestinian people. This intent has been manifested in its indiscriminate targeting of people and infrastructure, its killing and wounding of hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians, and its mass destruction of Gaza. Its designs are also reflected in the reoccupation of large parts of the Strip, with no clear horizon for an eventual withdrawal.
Israel’s actions in this war are moving in two extremely dangerous and sensitive directions from the Egyptian perspective. First, it is evident that Israel is gradually preparing for the forcible displacement of the people of Gaza into Sinai. In addition to being a war crime, this presents a threat to Egyptian national security and is, therefore, an absolute red line. Second, Egypt categorically opposes Israel’s attempt to eliminate the Palestinian cause through ethnic cleansing and other extremist acts it is committing in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
What have the Palestinians lost due to internal division?
The Palestinian rift that began in mid-July 2007 is the third Nakba in modern Palestinian history, the first two being the mass expulsions from Palestine in 1948 and 1967. What the Palestinians have lost as a result of this division is unquantifiable: national unity and unity of ranks, the strength of a negotiating party that is unified in its aims and strategies, and 18 years of deterioration in the Palestinian cause. Now they are on the threshold of what may be the most significant loss of all through the implementation of the mass forced displacement project.
All seven Israeli wars on Gaza since December 2008 have capitalised on the Palestinian rift, which gave Israel openings to divide and conquer, avoid negotiations on the pretext of an ostensible absence of a reliable negotiating partner, and further the elimination of the Palestinian cause.
Who is responsible for 7 October?
The Israeli occupation is the root cause, not just of 7 October and the subsequent war, but also of the deterioration in the security situation in the region as a whole. Regardless of how one assesses the Al-Aqsa Flood in terms of its justification and outcomes as a resistance operation, it was clearly a product of the more than 70 years of Israeli occupation, with its uninterrupted murder, destruction, collective punishment, settlement expansion, and Judaisation of the occupied territories.
Three important points regarding resistance need to be stressed. First, it is consistent with international law, which upholds the right of an occupied people to resist occupation; second, Egypt opposes the targeting of civilians anywhere; and third, resistance is a means to an end, not an end in itself. A resistance movement must possess the tools that enable it to achieve its goals, and it must know how to use these tools effectively, knowing when to be firm and when to be flexible. This applies to all the Palestinian factions, from Fatah and Hamas to Palestinian Islamic Jihad and others. Resistance operations should ultimately serve the more significant Palestinian interest and help realise the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.
What do you think of the fact that Israel blames Egypt for the situation at the border?
It is no surprise that Israel is trying to shift the blame onto Egypt, claiming that Egypt allowed smuggling operations to continue from Sinai into Gaza. Such baseless claims are typical of a government that constantly shirks its responsibilities and is unable to own up to its failures.
Israel’s political, military, and security establishments know perfectly well that Egypt, which has suffered dramatically from terrorism in Sinai and lost many of its finest soldiers in the battle to combat it, has succeeded in the complete eradication of this phenomenon through the comprehensive counterterrorism operation it launched in 2018. Egypt shut down all the tunnels into Gaza and stopped any smuggling. Israel’s claims are false and slanderous. In fact, intelligence reports reveal the opposite: multiple smuggling operations from Israel itself into Gaza.
Will Israel succeed in expanding into the void it is creating in Gaza?
If Israel continues its occupation of Gaza—even after a ceasefire— it will not achieve the security it claims to seek. As long as the occupation continues, Palestinian resistance will persist. This is a natural cause-and-effect equation, and it won’t change until Palestinians are granted their legitimate rights and establish an independent and sovereign state with a single government, a unified decision-making authority, and unity of arms. Until that is achieved, we will continue to see a region devoid of stability and security.
What can Egypt do to support the Palestinian cause in this rapidly changing region?
Because the Palestinian cause is a question of national security, Egypt treats it very seriously and meticulously. Whatever changes occur in the region, they will not lead to a shift in Egypt’s resolute support for the Palestinian people. Egypt will remain a bulwark against all attempts and conspiracies to bury the Arabs’ just and central cause.
Since the outbreak of the current war, no country has made efforts like Egypt’s to promote a ceasefire. Egypt proposed the first comprehensive phased initiative, which provided for a cessation of hostilities, the entry of aid, an end to the war and the complete withdrawal of Israel from Gaza, paving the way for the resumption of a political process that ultimately leads to the implementation of the two-state solution.
How do you see the future of the Palestinian people and Palestine given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated intent to reshape the Middle East?
Netanyahu’s vision for changing the Middle East takes as its starting point the elimination of the Palestinian resistance, the destruction of Hizbullah, the dismantling of the Syrian army, and further normalisation with some Arab countries in the future. Such a vision has no chance of success. It is premised on eradicating the Palestinian cause, but Israel will never succeed in stifling the aspirations and resistance of a people whose steadfastness is legion. Wherever they are, whether in Palestine or the Palestinian diaspora, they will persist in the pursuit of their legitimate and innate human rights, backed by international law, which entitles them to use all available means to achieve their rightful aims.
Will current developments affect the peace treaty with Israel?
Egypt signed the treaty with Israel on 26 March 1979, 46 years ago. The treaty was made possible by Egypt’s defeat of Israel in the 1973 October War. Since then, Egypt has viewed peace as a strategic choice and has reaffirmed its commitment to all the treaty’s provisions, but this is contingent on the other party upholding its commitments.
Egypt is keen to keep the peace, but is prepared to confront any threats to its national security. As President [Abdel-Fattah] Al-Sisi has mentioned, Egypt has a strong army, one that protects rather than threatens, that upholds rather than forfeits rights and principles.
The US acts as manager and mediator of affairs in the region. It claims to be a neutral broker. Do you agree? What is your opinion on the current administration’s approach to Gaza?
In the context of the war on Gaza, the US is very biased towards Israel. Not only has Washington done much less than it could to end the war, given its capacities and relations with all concerned parties, but it also helped prolong the war through the political, military, and financial support it gave to Israel. These vast sums of money and weapons were provided with no regard for international law.
US support for Israel took its most dangerous turn soon after President Donald Trump took office in January this year. That was when he came out with his plan to displace Gaza’s population to other countries, including Egypt and Jordan, in order to clear the Strip for a commercial real estate development project. This outrageous plan defies all sense of logic, reality, justice, and morality. It is sad that an American president should see this as a solution to the Gaza crisis. Egypt rejects it absolutely, in form and substance.
Egypt could not help but to act in the face of a scheme that reduces the Palestinian cause from a moral and political issue to a business deal. Egypt countered with a comprehensive plan to rebuild Gaza without expelling its population, which was supported by all the participants in the emergency Arab Summit held in Cairo in March. The Egyptian/Arab plan addresses the technical, political, and security aspects of the Gaza crisis and provides a political horizon for a durable solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This is the only path towards peace and security, not just in Gaza and the West Bank but across the region.
What steps are needed to secure a durable solution to the Gaza crisis?
First, end the war. This entails completing the hostage exchange process, ensuring the entry of humanitarian relief into Gaza, and a full Israeli withdrawal from the enclave.
Second, set into motion the Egyptian-Arab reconstruction plan for Gaza, beginning with an international reconstruction conference in Cairo.
Third, launch Palestinian-Israeli negotiations aimed at achieving the two-state solution.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 17 April, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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