In the dust of the Sinai Peninsula, the roar of tank tracks became more and more intense. Egypt's military deployment made Israel completely unable to sit still. This time it was not the deterrence of a few fighter planes, but the actual pressure of heavy troops.
The radar of those Hongqi 9B air defense missiles purchased from China has been aimed at Israel's air corridor, and news has also come from across the Atlantic.
Trump threw out a peace plan at the UN General Assembly, which required Israel to make substantial compromises, Amid internal and external difficulties, Israel's tough stance showed signs of loosening for the first time.
quantity at the border.
In late September, an Israeli Times report shook the Middle East, reporting that Egypt was conducting massive military rallies on the Sinai Peninsula, building not only fighter runways, but also underground facilities that could store missiles.
The Israeli government immediately accused Egypt of violating the peace treaty between the two countries and urgently asked the United States for help, hoping that Washington could put pressure on Cairo.
The Egyptian move is indeed not small, according to Egyptian retired Major General Samir Farage on television in July this year, The Egyptian military has activated the Red Flag 9B air defense missile system purchased from China.
The system is equipped with a radar that can scan targets within a 400-kilometer range and theoretically has the ability to track F35 stealth fighter jets. At least two such air defense systems have been deployed to the Sinai Peninsula, right in strategic Israel.
The Egyptian side claims that for its own security reasons, since this year, Qatar has been subjected to airstrikes, which makes Egypt highly alert, Qatar as an ally of the United States can be bombed by Israel, and the relationship between Egypt and the United States is not so iron, naturally to be proactive.
What’s more, Qatar’s previously deployed U.S. air defense systems didn’t work in the face of Israeli fighters, making Egypt more inclined to trust Chinese equipment.
Israel's nervousness is not unreasonable. Whether these anti-aircraft missiles can shoot down the F35 is irrelevant, but it is a definite thing to shoot down the F15 and F16. What makes Israel even more uneasy is that Egypt's radar system has begun to illuminate and track Israeli warplanes.
This kind of behavior is militarily equivalent to putting a gun to the other party's forehead and pulling the trigger at any time. Israel has repeatedly asked Egypt to stop using radar to illuminate Israeli warplanes and withdraw military deployments on the border, but Egypt ignored it.
Trump’s Peace Plan
Pressure from Washington also followed at the time of Israel’s crackdown, and on September 23, during the United Nations General Assembly, after Trump met with leaders of eight Arab and Islamic nations, a 21-point Gaza peace plan was proposed.
The core contents of the plan include: the immediate end of the war, the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the agreed line; the release of all hostages within 72 hours; the temporary transition of Gaza by a technical expert-type Palestinian Council; Hamas must not participate in Gaza's governance in any form, and all military facilities will be destroyed; The United States will work with Arab countries to develop a temporary international stability force.
The most important thing is that the plan clearly states that Hamas will be disarmed but not completely eliminated. It only requires it to stop meddling in politics. This is completely different from Netanyahu's previous goal of "completely eliminating Hamas". More importantly, Israel needs to return nearly 80% of Gaza it currently controls to Palestinian management.
Trump also promised in his talks with French President Macron that the United States would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, which was a blow to the right-wing Israeli government.
On September 11, Netanyahu had just signed an agreement to advance the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank’s “E1 Zone” and publicly declared that “there would be no Palestinian state.”
On September 29, Netanyahu arrived in Washington to meet Trump, and at a joint press conference at the White House, Trump thanked Netanyahu for "accepting" the peace plan.
Although Netanyahu did not make a clear statement at the scene, the Israeli negotiating team has accepted the plan and is waiting for a response from Hamas. This is a major shift in Israel's position.
International isolation of Israel
Just as Trump launched the peace plan, the international community sparked a wave of recognition of a Palestinian state.
On September 22, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Andorra and other countries announced at the UN headquarters that they have officially recognized the State of Palestine.
Subsequently, Britain, Canada, Australia and other countries also joined the line, so far that more than 150 of the 193 member states of the United Nations have already recognized the State of Palestine. Of the five permanent members, only the United States has not recognized it.
The background of this wave of recognition is the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israeli military operations in Gaza have killed more than 650,000 people and wounded more than 160,000 since the outbreak of the conflict on 7 October 2023.
In recent weeks, Israel launched a ground offensive against Gaza City, forcing about 1 million Palestinian residents to evacuate, 480,000 of whom have fled their homes.
French President Macron said that France will set up an embassy in Palestine, provided that all hostages are released and a ceasefire agreement is reached. Luxembourg Prime Minister Frieden bluntly stated that Luxembourg's decision is not aimed at Israel, but against the Netanyahu government. actions, because the actions of the current government violate the international order.
UN Secretary-General Guterres also made it clear that the international community should not be intimidated by Israel's threat, and that the "two-state solution" is the only option to achieve peace in the Middle East.
He criticized Israel's occupation policy and said: Do you choose a one-country solution? Allow millions of Palestinians to face expulsion, occupation, oppression and discrimination, and lose their basic rights on their land? This is completely unacceptable in the 21st century.
Faced with international pressure, Netanyahu's response remained tough. On September 22, he said at a New Year's toast at senior military officials that The coming year will be "a historic year for Israel's security", and Israel's goal is "not limited to the Gaza Strip", but also to destroy the "Iranian axis".
He also issued a statement on the 21st that the number of Israeli settlements on the West Bank has doubled, "where there will be no Palestinian state."
Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich’s remarks were even more blatant, saying in August, when he approved new Jewish settlements on the West Bank: “They’ll talk about the Palestinian dream, and we’ll continue to build Jewish reality.”
This reality would bury the idea of a Palestinian state," he even suggested in early September that Israel formally annex 82% of the land on the West Bank, and at a real estate conference last week, he also called Gaza a "real estate-rich mine," is negotiating with the United States how to divide the area.
However, Trump’s peace plan was soon rejected by Hamas.
Refusal by Hamas
Hamas issued a statement saying that the press conference between Trump and Netanyahu announced a US-Israel agreement, which expressed all Israel's positions and constituted a "plan to continue to invade the Palestinian people".
Hamas believes that Israel’s attempt through the United States to impose targets on people that it cannot through war would trigger regional conflict.
Ismail Sawabta, director of the Gaza Strip Media Office, also said that the US-Israel plan was unacceptable. It is worth noting that Hamas had no knowledge of it throughout the formulation process of the peace plan until the plan was announced. Was notified later.
Regarding this result, Netanyahu stated at the White House that if Hamas refuses or does not implement the peace plan, Israel will "finish its job", which is the original goal of eliminating Hamas.
This means that even if Israel accepts Trump's plan on the surface, if Hamas does not cooperate, Israel will still act in its own way.
conclusion
From Egypt’s military deployment at the border, to Trump’s peace plan, to multi-national recognition of the Palestinian state, Israel is facing multiple pressures that have been rare since its founding.
However, whether the Netanyahu government will really compromise, it remains to be seen as practical follow-up.
After all, Israel has continued to fire on Gaza against orders from the United States many times in the past. Whether it will happen again this time will take time to test. The road to peace in the Middle East is still long, but the attitude of the international community is changing, which may be the first step to peace.
The source:
CCTV News Client 2025-09-23 Israeli delegation visits Egypt to discuss border security arrangements