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Sinai (or so
called land of fayrouz), is a peninsula in Egypt, situated between the
Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, serving as a land
bridge between Asia and Africa. It is the only part of Egyptian territory
located in Asia. It has been a part of Egypt, from the First Dynasty of ancient
Egypt. It has historically been the center of conflict between Egypt and
various foreign empires.
Israel invaded and occupied Sinai, during the Suez Crisis, on June 5, 1967, when Israel carried out a preemptive attack on Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, starting the Six-Day War. As a result of the war, Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Following the occupation of Sinai, Egypt refused to negotiate with Israel and began the War of Attrition that lasted from 1967 to 1970. When it ended with a ceasefire, Sinai was still controlled by Israel.
Egypt,
finally, seized control over Sinai, during the Yom Kippur War (known in Egypt
as October War) in 1973. In 1975, Israel and Egypt signed the Sinai Interim
Agreement. In 1979, a peace treaty was signed in which Israel agreed to
gradually withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula. The withdrawal consisted of
several stages and involved dismantling Israeli settlements. The last Israeli
soldiers left the peninsula in April 1982.
The
anniversary of the final withdrawal is celebrated as “a national” holiday in
Egypt, on 25 April every year, commemorating the final withdrawal of the
Israeli Defense Forces from the Sinai Peninsula.
Egyptians
are encouraged to celebrate this anniversary to remember the struggle of the
war against Israel and the fighting that occurred over a 3-year period from
1967 to 1970 over the land of the Sinai Peninsula and the later fighting of the
October War in 1973.
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