Egyptian minister rejects Israeli concerns over Sinai railway project

Egyptian Transport Minister Kamel El-Wazir said on Wednesday that Egypt’s expansion of transport infrastructure in North Sinai and the reopening of railway lines to reconnect the peninsula with the rest of Egypt are part of efforts to develop the area. His remarks came in response to concerns over the projects reported by Hebrew media.

Speaking on Egyptian television on Wednesday evening, El-Wazir said he was focused on restoring the Sinai railway and extending it to Bir al-Abd, then to Al-Arish and later Taba, alongside the Suez Canal tunnels he oversaw while serving as head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority.

He said the projects aimed to reconnect Sinai with the rest of Egypt, adding: “Why are they upset? Have we attacked anyone? This is our land and we have the right to develop it.”

El-Wazir said a logistics corridor between Al-Arish and Taba would help revive Sinai by linking the ports of Al-Arish on the Mediterranean and Taba on the Red Sea, allowing goods from Arab countries to be transported alongside goods arriving from India and China through the Arab Gulf states.

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“What are they worried about? Does the train fire bullets? The train carries passengers or goods and is a development corridor,” he said.

Asked whether Israel feared the Egyptian projects could undermine Israeli plans for an alternative to the Suez Canal by transporting goods by rail, El-Wazir replied: “What is done is done. We are developing our land and this is our right. If this thwarts their plans, they should see what we are doing.”

Israeli reports have expressed concern over the pace of development in Sinai and Egypt’s construction of new transport infrastructure, particularly railway lines, saying it could lead to logistical and demographic changes that strengthen Egypt’s presence along the border.

Israeli platform Natziv Net said the Sinai railway project, which stretches for 500 km to link Egypt’s main logistics hub with the interior of the peninsula and eventually Taba, had raised strategic concerns in Tel Aviv, describing it as a major shift extending beyond civilian infrastructure.

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