Spanish
Egypt presented this Monday a series of millionaire urban and social development projects for the desert Sinai Peninsula, which connects the country with Israel and the Gaza Strip, and which Cairo recovered after the peace agreements signed with Israel almost five decades ago, thanks to the mediation of the United States.
The projects, valued at more than 1.3 billion euros, range from the construction of housing, roads, energy centers and water stations to schools, education centers, hospitals and other health infrastructures, as well as land reclamation, among others, according to a statement from the Egyptian Council of Ministers.
The note is published on the anniversary of the last Egyptian-Israeli war (1973) which had the Sinai as its main stage and where, on this same day, indirect negotiations will take place between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to implement the peace plan for Gaza of the US President, Donald Trump.
The development of Sinai has been gaining momentum in Egypt since the start of the war in Gaza two years ago, due to the threat of the eventual displacement of the inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave towards that territory, a possibility that Cairo categorically rejects as a threat to its national security.
"Recognizing that people are the center and the goal of development, the (Egyptian) State has focused its efforts on Sinai (...) in the creation of an urban renaissance and comprehensive development through national projects that encompass various vital sectors," said the statement from the Egyptian Government.
"These projects include infrastructure development, the improvement of energy services and digital transformation, the modernization of health and education systems, and the expansion of social protection programs (...) and contribute to improving the quality of life of its citizens, developing their capacities and increasing investment in the human factor," he added.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Monday in a speech to take the agreements that ended the Egyptian-Israeli conflict as an example to establish peace between Israel and the Palestinians, highlighting that they were "the basis of a just peace that allowed stability and demonstrated that equity is the only path to a lasting peace".
Egypt was the first Arab country to normalize relations with Israel after the signing of the Camp David peace accords (1978), under the auspices of former US President Jimmy Carter, and then the 1979 Peace Treaty.
