The last thing President Sisi needs is a security escalation at a time when he is struggling to feed his citizens. The Egyptian army refrained from defining the attack in which 3 IDF soldiers were killed as a terrorist attack.
Despite official statements, Cairo – as well as Jerusalem – has an interest in continued cooperation along the border. "Israel sent a message to Egypt - we expect the investigation of the incident to be thorough," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed. The border attack, the worst since 2012, caught Sisi as he tried to promote a long-term lull between Israel and the Gaza Strip.