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Egypt has renewed its proposal to establish a NATO-style Arab military alliance following Israel's recent attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, with plans to contribute 20,000 troops to the joint force, according to Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper, citing a Cairo government source on Saturday.
The initiative, first proposed nearly a decade ago without success, has gained renewed momentum as Egyptian officials seek support from other Arab nations to advance the proposal ahead of the Arab-Islamic summit scheduled in Doha.
"Cairo is counting heavily on obtaining support for the executive path of this proposal that was first presented in Egypt about nine years ago," an informed Egyptian official told al-Akhbar.
Diplomatic sources revealed that Cairo has reduced its diplomatic communication with Israel to the lowest levels since the beginning of the Israeli offensive on Gaza, limiting contact to matters related to humanitarian aid delivery to the Gaza Strip.
"Given this approach from Cairo, Washington has entered the line to convey some essential information to Cairo," diplomatic sources said.
Egypt has coordinated with Saudi Arabia and France to intensify diplomatic pressure on Israel, particularly amid Qatar's demands for escalation of positions following the attack.
Sources indicated that Emirati officials have actively discussed suspending the Abraham Accords if Tel Aviv proceeds with its plan to annex the West Bank, which would violate the foundations upon which these agreements were built.
Despite Israeli expansion in settlement construction and implementation of de facto annexation policies, sources expressed skepticism about an official Israeli announcement of such a step at present "to avoid potential Gulf escalation in response to this announcement."
"The active Emirati communication channels, led by President Mohammed bin Zayed, express general positions without making decisive decisions so far," sources noted, casting doubt on some Emirati officials' statements while coordination channels with Tel Aviv continued in recent periods.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi seeks to restore Arab support for launching a "joint Arab force" similar to NATO, capable of moving to "protect any Arab country subjected to aggression."
The Egyptian official outlined that military branches are formulating proposals for the force's operational mechanism that would "allow its use when necessary and its formation proportionate to Arab countries' populations and armed forces, considering regional and political balances."
"Cairo wants to retain the first command position in exchange for granting the second position to Saudi Arabia or one of the Gulf states," the official stated.
Egypt proposes contributing approximately 20,000 fighters from its army to the joint military force and seeks to use this proposal to "accelerate the pace of developing and supplying its army with the latest weapons," assuming the force commander would be the Egyptian army chief of staff or an officer with the rank of lieutenant general.
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Consultations continue with Saudi Arabia, which would be "the second largest force in numbers if formed." Diplomats involved in formulating the force's framework share the belief in "the necessity of avoiding turning its formation into a declaration of Arab war on Israel, which some countries might use as a pretext to engage in direct military confrontation with Tel Aviv," according to the source.
The Egyptian official acknowledged that "there are still implementation obstacles facing the proposal if this force is formed, most notably the timing of its intervention and activation mechanism."
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