Yesterday on the outskirts of Cairo, the Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer and the Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy signed a lucrative gas deal worth an estimated 2.5 billion dollars. This deal will see Egypt supplying Israel with 1.7 billion cubic meters of Natural Gas for an initial period of 15 years, with a possible extension. However, why does Egypt, a supposed friend of the Palestinian people and an impartial peace mediator, choose to strike a deal at this specific time with Israel, while the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is deteriorating with many areas on the verge of a humanitarian crisis? What is the message Egypt is giving to the Palestinian people? And how conducive is such a maneuver towards achieving a genuine and authentic peace agreement that would finally grant the region stability and potential for prosperity? Is Egypt rewarding Israel, and if so why?

In its 57-year history, the Arab-Israeli conflict has gone through several transformations as well as, changes in alliances and the global balance of power. It can be argued that probably the greatest transformation this conflict has gone through was the controversial, unexpected and unthinkable Camp David peace accord between the largest Arab country and the State of Israel in 1979. The sudden change in policy perused with concerns to Israel or Palestine, by the then Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, came as a true and genuine shock to the Arab world at large, but specifically to the Palestinian people. Such individual peace agreements with Israel have sadly left the Palestinian people isolated and alone to deal with Israel’s army which is ranked as the 9th most powerful army in the world according to the U.S. State Department (other military intelligence sources rank it even higher).

In other developments, on June 30 the Israeli cabinet began with the implementation phase of its ‘Unilateral Gaza Disengagement Plan,’ which was temporarily halted due to unprecedented levels of violence and resistance by extremist Israeli settlers, that will see Israel evacuate troops, military outposts, bases and some 8000 settlers from Gaza only to relinquish its grip on the West Bank and Arab east Jerusalem.

Furthermore, Israel’s Annexation and Segregation Wall is continuously being built, with complete disregard to the will of the international community. Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are still expanding at a frightening rate, making contiguity a far fetched concept for a future viable Palestinian State.

Which brings us back to the initial question, why? Why does Egypt choose to strike such a lucrative deal in the midst of a most tragic and unfair situation facing Palestinians. According to Al Jazeera, Egypt and Israel opened negotiations on the gas deal in 2000, but the talks were suspended after the eruption of the Palestinian uprising. Now that the Palestinian uprising is effectively over, and Israel is implementing its ‘Disengagement Plan,’ this latest Egyptian-Israeli gas deal can only be understood in two ways, either Egypt is rewarding Israel for its effort exerted in going through with the ‘Unilateral Disengagement Plan,’ or Egypt signed this deal to prevent or avoid further pressures coming from the U.S. calling on it to reform and allow for free and fair presidential elections to take place.

The question remains though how conducive is such a move to the peace process? In actual fact, this recent move by Egypt only adds insult to injury, how? Well, Israel, an occupying power with a miserable human rights record, is being rewarded by Egypt for a unilateral disengagement plan that is a smokescreen for annexing more and more land along with the Segregation and Annexation Wall, which is itself a crime against humanity, effectively caging in an entire nation. What message is Egypt giving out with its latest move? Again, the only logical deduction that can be made is that Egypt actually supports and promotes the arrogant, destructive and inhumane policy of unilateralism.

Finally, taking into consideration the pace and momentum with which Israel is perusing its policy of unilateral measures, it is only logical to conclude that a just and comprehensive peace deal is very far-fetched. If Egypt, the largest and probably most powerful Arab nation, is sincere in fulfilling its role as a major regional actor, as well as an effective and impartial mediator, it should force Israel, or take the initiative and rally the international community to force Israel, to comply, with the ‘road map,’ relevant UN resolutions, as well as legally binding international law, rather than cater to its own, - and Israel’s- needs.