Egypt Security Sector Report

This week’s dispatch includes reports on Egypt and the regional developments, the Red Sea, the Egyptian navy, Police Day, migration, health, education, prisons, security crackdowns, and a relic of the past.

📁 MENA

• Hours after taking office on Monday, Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance pending a review of its efficiency and to ensure it is consistent with his foreign policy, making exceptions only for emergency food, and military funding for Israel and Egypt.

• More than 10,000 Egyptians signed up to help organize aid caravans to Gaza. The donations campaign has gone national, reaching small villages.
  In the first three days of the ceasefire, more than 2,400 aid trucks from Egypt entered the enclave.

• Minister of Civil Aviation Sameh el-Hefny said that seven to eight flights were involved in evacuating Egyptian nationals from Lebanon during the war, which cost an extra LE2 million ($39,680).

• Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned Sisi on Tuesday to discuss restoring stability in Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, and Libya, as well as developments in the ongoing war in Ukraine. They also discussed bilateral relations, including the establishment of a Russian Industrial Zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone and the construction of the Dabaa nuclear power plant.

• According to a pro-regime columnist’s conversation with FM Badr Abdelatty

  Egypt has no intention to boycott or oppose the new order in Damascus.. However, .. simultaneously.. Egypt is not keen to join the flock rushing to shake hands with those in power there, as though just yesterday they had not designated those same leader terrorists and posted billions of dollars of bounties on their heads.

• Egyptian diplomatic sources told al-Ahram that Netanyahu was pressured by US President Trump to agree to the deal, but his political strategy remains uncertain, especially after the resignation of National Security Minister Itmar Ben-Gvir and threats from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. To maintain his coalition and avoid early elections, Netanyahu may resort to political maneuvering. Meanwhile, Egypt continues its engagement with Israel, hosting meetings on key issues like border security, the Rafah Crossing, and prisoner exchanges. While immediate challenges exist, Egyptian concerns are more focused on the subsequent phases of the ceasefire deal.

• Israeli and Egyptian security officials have agreed that the Palestinian Authority will manage the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing under international supervision by the UN, according to a report by the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat on Tuesday. The meetings, held in Cairo on Monday and Tuesday, included Israeli security chiefs Ronen Bar and David Barnea and Hassan Rashad of the GIS. However, no date has been set for reopening the crossing. Discussions regarding the Philadelphi Corridor have been ongoing, with remaining disagreements described as technical and expected to be resolved.
  However, Netanyahu denied the report

  shortly afterward, attributing it to “efforts by the Palestinian Authority to create a false picture to the effect that it controls the crossing.”

  Netanyahu said that “IDF forces are positioned around the crossing and there is no passage” without the approval of Israeli security.

  “The only practical involvement of the Palestinian Authority is its stamp on the passports, which according to the existing international arrangement, is the only way Gazans may leave the Strip in order to enter, or be received in, other countries,” Netanyahu said.

  The Shin Bet also responded to the reports, saying that “the site will be managed according to the agreement approved by the political echelon.”

• Haaretz reported Wednesday that Israel approved a plan to allow 50 wounded Hamas fighters to cross into Egypt daily for medical treatment, starting on the 14th day of the ceasefire. Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the transfers will be managed by Gazans unaffiliated with Hamas and will require prior approval from the IDF and Shin Bet.

  Under the arrangement, the Shin Bet security service will retain veto power over the identity of the Hamas members expected to be treated in Egypt, as well as their companions. No crossing of people or products from Egypt into the Strip is expected, the agreement says.
  In practice, however, the monitoring of Hamas members crossing into Egypt will be managed by Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip, most of whom are identified as Fatah members, with their names approved by Shin Bet security service.

• According to Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the Ministry of Health and Population spokesman, 150 ambulances have been mobilized around the Rafah border crossing.

• US private security contractors will start—in the coming days until the end of the first phase of the hostage deal—to operate a key Gaza checkpoint and deploy armed guards to the enclave, as part of a multinational consortium, two Israeli officials and a source with direct knowledge told Axios Thursday.
  The consortium—comprised of three private companies selected by the US, Egypt, and Qatar with Israel and Hamas’s consent—will manage and secure a key vehicle checkpoint along Salah al-Din Road in Gaza to facilitate the safe return of displaced Palestinians while preventing the transport of weapons. The US-based Safe Reach Solutions (SRS) drafted the operational plan, while UG Solutions, a US private security firm employing former special forces personnel from various nationalities, will provide armed guards. An Egyptian security company, approved by the GIS, will also deploy guards in Gaza.
  The name of the Egyptian company has not yet been made public. Will it be Sabry Nakhnoukh’s Falcon Group, Ibrahim el-Orjani’s ITOUS, or another company? 
  The consortium may expand to include additional members and nationalities in the future.

• The Egyptian Foreign Ministry condemned Thursday the Israeli military operation in Jenin and its refugee camp in the West Bank.

• Seventy released Palestinian prisoners arrived Saturday in Egypt through the Rafah Crossing. They will remain in the country for a week before their transfer to other countries, as part of the deal between Hamas and Israel.

• Trump told reporters Saturday that he wants Jordan and Egypt to take Palestinians from Gaza into their territory “temporarily or long term.”
  The proposal was denounced by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and rejected by Jordan and Egypt.

• Most Gazans in Egypt have decided to return. Life in Egypt hasn’t been easy due to financial reasons, given that they lack residency permits, which restricts them from moving freely.

📁 The Red Sea