Egypt’s plans to conduct live-fire exercises in Sinai have alarmed Israel’s residents and security officers on the other side of their shared border.

Although the drills were coordinated with Israel within the terms of the 1979 peace treaty between the two countries, Israeli residents, including those living close to Gaza, are reported to be concerned about their proximity. Israeli media suggest that many fear a return to the conditions that preceded the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed more than 1,000 people, most of them civilians.

“The sequence of events is eerily reminiscent of what preceded the October 7 disaster,” one female resident of Bnei Netzarim, a town near the border, told YNet news. “How, after everything we’ve been through, does the [Israeli military] approve a foreign army operating with live fire right on the contact line?”

“Gunfire noise is the perfect cover for smuggling or even a raid. Why allow them to get so close? They have vast areas in Sinai.”

In a statement issued ahead of the drills, the Forum for Israel’s Border Communities also said it was unacceptable for Egyptian forces to conduct exercises so close to the border, adding that the drills resembled patterns seen in the lead-up to the October 7 attack, despite there being no reported link between Egypt and the Hamas led incursion of 2023.

“We warn against the creation of dangerous norms that led to October 7,” the group said, appealing to Israel’s political leaders to halt the drills. “Residents of the border communities are not a testing ground for the State of Israel or a training zone for the Egyptian army.”

The statement also pointed to earlier security approaches, noting Israel’s past acceptance of incendiary balloons from Gaza and citing recent reports that such devices have again been spotted near Kibbutz Nahal, around 700 to 800 metres (2,300 to 2,625 feet) from the Gaza border fence.

So, why are residents so concerned, and is Egypt really testing the limits of the ceasefire?

Here’s what we know.

Is Egypt really testing Israel’s border readiness by conducting drills?

It’s unlikely.

Under the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, Sinai is divided into zones with strict limits on military deployments. In Zone C, the area closest to the Israeli border, only lightly armed police and international observers are permitted.

Although the treaty does not explicitly prohibit Egyptian military exercises, any deployment or activity involving regular army forces near the frontier would normally require prior coordination and Israeli approval. As a result, drills in these areas are regarded as highly sensitive within the treaty framework.

How is this being represented in Israel?

Confusingly.

While the military exercises were agreed in advance between Israel and Egypt, some Israeli media have chosen to portray the drills as part of a wider and more troubling agenda on the part of Egypt.

Writing in the Jerusalem Post earlier today, Lebanese-Israeli commentator Edy Cohen characterised the drills as part of a wider pattern that had seen Egypt assume a “soft” position towards Iran and oppose Israel’s recognition of the strategically important territory of Somaliland in defiance of Somalia’s internationally recognised government. Cohen also said Egypt had attempted to “insert” itself into ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.

Cohen accused Egypt of acting as a “regional bully” by applying pressure to Israel, which has launched six attacks upon its neighbours since October 2023. He said Egypt had inserted itself into ceasefire efforts for Lebanon, Iran and Gaza, as part of a wider scheme to enlist Israel’s help in persuading the US or Gulf states to help Cairo with its financial difficulties.

How are relations between Israel and Egypt generally?

Tense, but generally stable.

Egypt and Israel have maintained what observers call a “cold peace” since their 1979 treaty, formally stable, but rarely warm.

The two countries engage in significant economic and security cooperation, but relations have grown increasingly strained following the genocide Israel unleashed in response to the 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Since then, Israeli strikes have killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, downgrading diplomatic representation and leading the two countries to exchange heavy criticism.

In September 2025, reportedly in response to growing concerns over Israel assassinating Hamas leaders in Cairo, or forcing tens of thousands of starving Palestinians into Sinai, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi described Israel as an “enemy” – the first time he had used such language since taking office in 2014.

Nevertheless, cooperation endures. In December 2025, Israel signed a gas deal worth $34.7bn with Egypt. As one analysis put it, security coordination continues for one critical reason: to prevent an unintended, catastrophic war.