Senior Israeli and Egyptian military officers met Nov. 7 in Sharm al-Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula. The IDF delegation included the head of IDF operations, Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk; head of the IDF’s Foreign Relations Division Brig. Gen. Efi Dafrin and Maj. Gen. Tal Kelman, who commands the IDF’s Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate.

The 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty limits the number of troops that can be stationed on either side of the Sinai border. They may be increased if the other country signs off on additional reinforcements in a joint committee made up of senior officers from both armies.

At the meeting, the Israeli side agreed to Egypt's request to increase its security presence in the Rafah area, which borders both Israel and the Gaza Strip, in an amendment to the "agreed-activities" provision of the peace treaty. A statement by the IDF read, “During a meeting of the committee, an agreement was signed to formalize the deployment of guard troops in the area of Rafah to reinforce the Egyptian military’s security control over the area.” It also stated that the decision was approved by Israel’s security cabinet. The number of additional Egyptian troops to be deployed was not disclosed.

The meeting itself was not rare, as the committee meets regularly, nor was the Egyptian request. In fact, Israel has agreed to similar Egyptian requests multiple times over the past decade. For instance, in 2018, Israel agreed for Egypt to more than double its troop presence in Sinai from 41 battalions and 25,000 soldiers in 2017 to 88 battalions with 42,000 soldiers.