Egypt puts more pressure on Gaza than is needed, says Israeli army officer

The Egyptian authorities are “closer to Israel than Hamas” and they “put more pressure” on the besieged Gaza Strip “than is needed,” a senior Israeli army officer has said, Safa news agency reported on Friday.

The officer’s comments were first reported by The Economist and the Israeli media. “Egypt’s hostility to Hamas has become greater than its hostility to Israel,” he said. According to the news magazine, the comments were made during a meeting about the notable and improving relations between the regime of Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Israel, with several Israeli officials attending and hosted by Egypt.

Security cooperation between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan has increased significantly. So much, in fact, that Israeli drones have been given permission by the Egyptians to strike targets in the Sinai Peninsula. Safa explained that this claim came one week after similar remarks were made by a retired Israeli official, who revealed that Israel’s drone attacks during the previous year were planned in full cooperation with the Egyptian army.