The recent American reports on the intention of the United States to withdraw its members participating in the multinational peacekeeping force between Egypt and Israel in the Sinai call for a definition of that force, the context in which it arose, the tasks entrusted to it, and the countries participating in it, as well as foreseeing the future of those forces after 38 years have passed. A year since she started her work in Sinai.

When did that power arise?
After signing the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel at the Camp David resort in Washington on March 26, 1979, and ending the state of war, it was necessary to arrange the military requirements listed in Annex No. 1 of the treaty.

On August 3, 1981, Egypt, Israel, and the United States signed the protocol for establishing that force, after tripartite negotiations that resulted in this protocol, which is covered in details with the attached annex, which states that it is complementary to the protocol itself.

Does this force belong to the United Nations?
That force, whose personnel are called "orange hats", is not affiliated with the United Nations forces "blue hats", which previously assumed the peacekeeping mission in Sinai from the armistice agreements after the 1948 war until the second agreement to separate the forces on the Egyptian front - Israeli on September 1, 1975.

That international force was forced to end its work after the Security Council was unable in 1978 to pass a resolution to continuously and renew the work of the UN force, which was in Sinai, the second international emergency force due to the objection of the former Soviet Union.

 Egypt was not interested in creating a monitoring and follow-up force to implement the provisions of the Camp David Treaty from outside the United Nations system, but accepted the de facto situation arising from the obligations and consequences of the continuation of the Cold War between Washington and Moscow, which at the time was not satisfied with the American engagement with the peace process.

And the witness in the matter is that America and Israel succeeded in replacing the supervisory role of the United Nations stipulated in the treaty with multinational forces, and signed a protocol on it between Egypt and Israel.

How big is that strength?

Item 19 of the annex to the protocol establishing the force states that its size consists of a headquarters and three infantry battalions, and the total of its members does not exceed two thousand individuals, a coastal patrol unit, an observer unit, a navigation component, administrative affairs and signal units, and item (34) specifies the date and hour of the start of this exercise. The force assumed its duties, at 1300 hours on April 25, 1982, after the Israeli forces completely abandoned the Sinai. 

Participating countries?
The current composition of the elements of the multinational force and monitors is distributed in Sinai to 13 countries, among them NATO member states, and the American forces alone represent about 40% of the force count, followed by the size of Colombia and Fiji, and besides those three countries the force includes elements from the United Kingdom , France, Italy, Japan, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Norway, and Uruguay.

The tasks 

The main task of that force is to ensure compliance by Egypt and Israel with the security provisions of the Camp David Treaty, oversee the implementation of the security provisions of the treaty, and make every effort to prevent any breach of its terms.  

This is accomplished by carrying out four tasks: operating checkpoints and observation posts, conducting reconnaissance patrols on international borders, within Area C, verifying that the terms of the peace treaty are implemented no less than twice a month, and verifying that the terms of the treaty are applied within 48 hours of a request One of the two parties, and ensuring the freedom of international maritime navigation in the Strait of Tiran and access to the Gulf of Aqaba. 

Budget and expenses

The annual budget for the forces is estimated at approximately $ 65 million, shared by Egypt and Israel, but American sources estimate it at $ 86 million annually, and states that the United States provides about a third of its annual budget, and provides additional funding for standby protection measures and mine-resistant vehicles, among others. 

Concentration areas in the Sinai 

This force is concentrated in two bases: The first is in Al-Joura (north of Sinai) in Area C, which equals almost a quarter of the Sinai area, and includes 35 observation towers, a checkpoint, and a control center along the strip that runs along eastern Sinai.

As for the second base, it is located between the city of Sharm El-Sheikh and Naama Bay (south of Sinai), and the monitoring operations are divided into thirty observation centers in Sinai, and an additional center on Tiran Island at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba.

On the other side in Area D, there are approximately fifty observers, all of them civilians.

Administration 

The force is managed from its headquarters in Rome, in addition to two regional headquarters in Cairo and Tel Aviv, and its current director is the American David Satterfield, whose term ends in June, and prior to that he served as Senior Adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for Iraq, and Deputy Head of the American mission there, as he was the US ambassador to Lebanon.

Who protects those forces?

The Egyptian armed forces in Sinai are responsible for protecting and securing all elements of the multinational force and observers in the Sinai, and none of those forces have been subjected to a major terrorist incident among the armed attacks against the Egyptian army and police in Sinai, which are concentrated in the "Rafah Triangle, Sheikh Zuwayed and Al-Arish" ".

the present and the future

The latest media reports about Defense Secretary Mark Esber's intention to withdraw four hundred peacekeepers in the Sinai were not the first of their kind. The number of US personnel in that force has already been reduced, but this time the cut is in the context of cost reduction and a reassessment of military operations all over the world.

But that region in particular has a specificity that distinguishes it from the rest of the world in the United States, which has affirmed and pledged its successive administrations to guarantee the security of Israel, and considers it a high American interest within the US national security strategy.

Indeed, the context in which the formation of that force came 38 years ago differs from the reality that the region has attained after that period, and in light of security coordination and cooperation between Egypt and Israel, reality exceeded many of the tasks for which this force was created.

As for the task of ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Tiran and reaching the Gulf of Aqaba, it is no longer an issue of concern to Israel in the future, especially after Egypt ceded the islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia on April 18, 2016, so that Israel can be more secure after the Strait becomes an international corridor.

The only use of the island of Tiran by Saudi Arabia is its attachment to the NEOM project for recreational tourism, and some believe that Israel will find a location for it in this project in one way or another, and the evidence of this is beyond the limits.