Killing one of our Egyptian army personnel on the eastern border must have due consequences
Over eight months, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has been monitoring the Israeli assaults on the eastern Egyptian border and the Egyptian reactions towards them, which were always short of the scale required by events, whether at the political, security, or military level. Today, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on our soldiers on the border; and the Egyptian army announced that one of its personnel was killed, and that it started investigating the incident.
The MB denounces the policy of “too much patience” practiced by the Egyptian government towards the occupying entity despite the fact that it has crossed all red lines. The Brotherhood finds no meaning for this “too much patience” other than humiliation, indignity, and further display of weakness in the face of an enemy with endless ambitions.
This heinous crime came after a series of crimes and assaults, which began from the bombing of the Rafah crossing (on the Palestinian side) at the beginning of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, through the wounding of several Egyptian soldiers, up to the occupation of the Rafah crossing and the demilitarized zone and the deployment of tanks on the Palestinian side along the border with Egypt, in violation of the Camp David Accords. The least response to the occupation of the Salah al-Din Axis, also known as the Philadelphi Corridor, should have been a full deployment of forces on the Egyptian border, based on the principle of reciprocity, something which did not happen. At the political level, the peace agreement or some of its annexes could have been annulled, but that was not done either.
Therefore, the Muslim Brotherhood believes that the assault (on Egyptian soldiers) is an inevitable result of adoption of silence towards recurrent attacks that amounted to a blatant threat to the Egyptian borders and Egypt’s national security. The MB also views this assault as a result of abandoning the duty of jihad and the right to support the Palestinian people. On the other hand, the Brotherhood views the Israeli attack on our soldiers as a kind of attempting to restore the prestige that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood has destroyed, at the expense of one of the most powerful armies across the world, namely the Egyptian army, in a litmus test of the Egyptian position.
Hence, the MB believes that the due position towards this assault is to take deterrent steps and undertake the constitutional duty assigned to the armed forces. The Brotherhood considers that killing one Egyptian soldier is a blatant attack on Egypt, and an attack on the Egyptian military and its honour.
The Muslim Brotherhood also calls for action in support of our people in the Gaza Strip and to work to stop the bloodshed in Rafah via every possible way. The MB also calls on the Egyptian people and its vital forces, including trade unionists, labourers, and students, to launch a popular movement so that the enemy can view manifestations of the Egyptian people’s rage towards the assault on our soldiers and what is happening to our people in Gaza, and also to pressure the Egyptian regime to take practical measures regarding all this.
MB Official Spokesperson
Osama Suleiman
(Monday, 19 Dhul-Qi’dah 1445 AH, 27 May 2024 AD)