Sinai has become the centerpiece of Egypt-Israel strategic cooperation, balancing internal threats, regional instability, and shared security interests. For Egypt, Sinai is more than geography — it’s a national fault line between sovereignty and chaos.
Since the 7 October Hamas attack and Israel’s powerful response, Cairo’s greatest concern isn’t war itself, but the consequences: refugee flows from Gaza, ideological radicalization, and destabilization of the Sinai Peninsula.
The Egyptian dilemma
Egyptians feel both sympathy and fear toward Gaza. While pan-Arab sentiment fosters solidarity with Gazans, there’s overwhelming resistance to opening the Sinai border — even temporarily. Many Egyptians view Gazans as potential agitators who could inflame Sinai’s delicate tribal balance and drag Egypt into the region’s longest-running conflict.
Egyptian leaders, both civilian and military, see Gaza not as a humanitarian crisis but a security nightmare — a hotbed of jihadist ideology with a history of smuggling, infiltration, and violence. Since Hamas took over Gaza in 2006 and due to its ties to Egypt’s banned Muslim Brotherhood, the regime has viewed the Strip as a direct threat.