Egypt Will Not Help Israel Intercept Attacks, Tell Iran Will Close Its Airspace

JAKARTA - Egypt will not be part of a regional military coalition to dispel possible Iranian attacks on Israel, according to a report by Qatar news agency Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

It was informed by Egypt to Israel's high-level delegation who visited Cairo on Saturday to hold indirect talks with negotiators, the United States and Egypt, as reported by The Times of Israel on August 5.

In a bid to maintain its neutrality and ease tensions in the region sparked by the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh last week, Egypt also notified Tehran it would close its airspace from any military action that would threaten regional security, Qatar media wrote.

Cairo officials told their Iranian counterparts the measure should not be considered hostile behavior towards Iran. However, it is more of a way to protect Egypt's interests and sovereignty.

Previously, massive drone and missile attacks from Iran were thwarted by a coalition consisting of Israel, the United States, Britain, France, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on April 14.

The attack was said by Iran in response to an attack that killed several senior Iranian military officials in Damascus on April 1. Israel itself does not justify or deny responsibility for the attack.

Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an attack on him in Tehran, Iran, while attending the inauguration of Iran's elected President Masoud Pezeshkian last Wednesday. The inauguration was held Tuesday afternoon. The late Haniyeh met with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Pezeshkian before the inauguration.

Together with the United States and Qatar, Egypt has acted as mediators in indirect ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel, quoted by Reuters.

Egypt, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said last week that the escalation that occurred last week, the deaths of Haniyeh and Fuad Shukr, senior commander of the Hezbollah militants the day before, had undermined efforts to mediate the halt to fighting in Gaza.

"Incidentally, this regional escalation with the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations in Gaza increases the complexity of the situation and indicates Israel's lack of political will to defuse it," the ministry said in a statement.

"This weakens the hard efforts made by Egypt and its partners to stop the war in the Gaza Strip and end the suffering of the Palestinian people," the statement added.