![Egyptian security forces take security measures during the final session in the case of two Red Sea islands in front of the Court in Cairo, Egypt on 16 January, 2017 [Mohamed El Raai/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/20170116_2_21315728_18006674.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Egypt’s high administrative court yesterday ruled to halt all previous judicial decisions in favour of transferring the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.
Lawyer Khaled Ali, who filed the lawsuit, said:
The ruling signifies that the land is Egyptian.
In April, the Cairo Court of Urgent Matters annulled a ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) which cancelled the Egyptian-Saudi Arabian maritime border agreement under which the islands of Tiran and Sanafir had been transferred to the Gulf country.
Read: 1,572 Egyptians arrested over Red Sea island transfer
Last Wednesday, the Egyptian parliament approved the controversial transfer, sparking widespread protests and causing chaos in parliament.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has yet to approve the agreement.