The Egyptian government is putting the final touches on the demarcation of its maritime borders with Saudi Arabia to complete the transfer of the Tiran and Sanafir islands to the kingdom.

The parliament’s legislative and constitutional committee is holding three meetings June 11-12 to discuss the agreement. In an unprecedented move in the history of parliamentary sessions, the parliamentary media committee did not send the weekly committee meeting agenda to media outlets and only sent out the schedule of general sessions. A member of parliament told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “This might be the first step to making the meetings covert and unannounced to the media. The secret nature of the meetings has not been confirmed yet, but the committee head has the right to [make their proceedings secret] anytime.”

Another member of parliament who supports the agreement to transfer Tiran and Sanafir islands to Riyadh and is close to decision-making circles reinforced these concerns when he told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “The Egyptian parliament wants to extend the second term of its session ending June 30, which violates the laws of the regulations organizing its work, in order to approve an agreement before the end of July.”

The statements of the parliamentary source were in line with those of an Al-Monitor source in the Saudi Royal Court. The Saudi source said, "An Egyptian presidential official visited Saudi Arabia in May and asserted that, by the end of June, encumbrances presented by the political and public opposition will be removed and legal changes will take place to cede the ownership of the two islands to the kingdom. The Egyptian regime considers the issue settled.”