April 25th marks Sinai Liberation Day and 2020 marks the 38th anniversary of the departure of the last Israeli forces from Sinai in 1982, except from Taba which was restored by Egypt through international arbitration in 1989.
Israel had occupied Sinai on June 5, 1967 before Egypt waged the 6th of October, 1973 War and restored 15 kilometers pushing the Hebrew State to negotiate until the Peace Treaty was signed in 1977.
Egypt had begun the War of Attrition in 1969 leading up to the 1973 War and the destruction Bar Lev Line causing losses among the Israelis. The line was a chain of fortifications built by Israel along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal.
North Sinai has been hit by terrorism since late President Mohamed Morsi, who was one of the leaders of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, held office in 2012. A number of soldiers were kidnapped, and all the soldiers in a checkpoint were assassinated in a terror attack in Rafah town bordering Gaza Strip.
After his overthrow over mass protests in 2013, terrorism magnified in North Sinai and spread across the country. Later on, terrorism became confined to North Sinai, and the frequency of terror attacks decreased tremendously. Yet, dozens of security personnel martyred and injured.
That is because the Egyptian Armed Forces and the Egyptian Police have been eliminating terrorist hideouts, and illegal secret tunnels that were dug to connect with Gaza Strip with the purpose of smuggling goods, arms, and terrorists.
In parallel, the state has been developing the Sinai Peninsula, and improving the transportation network connecting it with the rest of the country. The main projects in that realm are Martyr Ahmed Hamdy Tunnel I, Martyr Ahmed Hamdy Tunnel II and four other tunnels extending beneath the Suez Canal, and Martyr Ahmed Mansy Floating Bridge stretching on the international waterway.
Egypt Today
