Egyptian diplomatic sources today (Tuesday) gave new details to the Al-Arabi al-Jadid newspaper about "US-Israel-mediated consultations between US to reformulate the status of the islands of Tiran and Sanfir", contacts related to naval navigation in the Gulf of Eilat .
According to sources, consultations between the parties are being conducted intensively to "determine the status of the islands as soon as possible."
It was also noted that the contacts revolved around the areas of security and intelligence for a long time.
An Egyptian source told the newspaper that he had witnessed a joint meeting of senior military and intelligence officials from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
According to him, the meeting dealt with the general lines of the agreement that will soon be announced.
He further stressed that "recent meetings between the three sides have included formulations in the context of the transfer of Egyptian sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and San to Saudi Arabia."
As you may recall, this is an essential part of the Camp David agreements between Israel and Egypt.
According to the report, a permanent tripartite mechanism is expected between the parties regarding the security of navigation in the strategic sea route in the Gulf leading to the ports in Israel and Jordan.
It was further claimed that "there is a tendency among the Saudi leadership to rely on Egypt through the unofficial ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv", this after Abu Dhabi has been the preferred capital for this cooperation in recent times.
The paper reported that the expansion of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates at the expense of the Gulf Council was one of the things that provoked anger in Saudi Arabia.
In this context, an Egyptian diplomat told al-Arabi al-Jadid that talking about settling the status of the islands was intended to find justification for the Saudis' negotiations with their Israeli counterparts. , The sovereignty of the islands has in fact passed to Saudi Arabia.
Egyptian ship in Egyptian Tiran, Photo: AFP
On the other hand, an Egyptian diplomatic source in Washington claimed that "so far the clear Saudi position has been that they are not ready to normalize broadly or publicly with Israel."
The source explained that Israel understands the Saudi position and has not expressed resentment or opposition to secret agreements between the parties because the relations are not becoming official.
Meanwhile, the Qatari newspaper reported that Saudi Arabia had offered to host a US-Arab summit on the sidelines of US President Joe Biden's visit to the kingdom in June.
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