Why Did ‘Israel’ Start Revealing Secrets About Egypt’s Military Bases and Weapons After the Operation of Mohamed Salah?

After approximately three months since its launch in late March 2023, “Israel” began disclosing military secrets about Egypt’s bases and weaponry.

For the first time, images from Israeli satellites were released, revealing a long-range Egyptian missile base of the Scud type, located 12 kilometers away from the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

They claimed to have identified an Egyptian Scud missile base, with a range of 1,250 kilometers near Cairo, as part of their monitoring of the Egyptian military’s offensive capabilities, which effectively covers any point in “Israel.”

Two days later, the Russian television network RT also published a video featuring details of a “dangerous Russian weapon not publicly acknowledged by the Egyptian army” called the Snake.

According to reports on June 22, 2023, the weapon is an anti-mine system known as the Russian UR-77, which was also reported by Hebrew newspapers.

Analysts noted that the release of this military information followed the incident involving Egyptian soldier Mohamed Salah in Sinai, during which four Israeli soldiers were killed on June 3, 2023, when he infiltrated occupied Palestine.

Israel Defense, an Israeli military magazine that disclosed the missile base secrets, claimed on June 20, 2023, that the Israeli government does not intentionally seek to raise the issue of Egyptian missiles to the public.

Egypt is a peaceful state and a supporter of “Israel,” cooperating to maintain relatively calm borders, the newspaper argued.

Apart from rare incidents like the recent one involving Egyptian soldier Mohamed Salah, the “Tel Aviv” government has no interest in deliberately portraying Egypt as a potential enemy, as it lacks the military budget to confront such a situation, according to the same source.

Israeli military circles fear increasing threats from Egypt, despite the peace treaty and the cooperation between Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s regime and the Israeli army in Sinai.

Israeli and American reports have indicated Israeli concerns over Egypt’s potential exploitation of facilitations granted by “Tel Aviv” to introduce Egyptian forces and equipment into Sinai areas in violation of the peace treaty under the pretext of combating the Islamic State.

 

Missile Bases

On June 20, 2023, the Israel Defense magazine released satellite images claiming to show an old Russian Scud missile base.

The magazine noted that this base and the missiles were used in the shelling of occupied cities during the 1973 war, expressing surprise at Cairo’s reasons for keeping these missiles in a state of readiness.

The magazine explained that a detailed analysis of satellite images starting from April 2023 revealed the details of the Egyptian Scud missile base.

Not only did Israel Defense magazine pinpoint the precise location of the base, which is approximately 12 kilometers southeast of Cairo, but it also highlighted the mockery of the missiles being exposed in the open, making them vulnerable to destruction.

Detailed images of the facility, including buildings, missile locations, officers, and more, were published.

The same image was previously published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British research institute in the area of international affairs, on June 9, 2023. However, the Israeli magazine provided deeper details.

Regarding the number of Scud missiles owned by Egypt, Israel Defense stated that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States estimated the number to be in the tens.

However, the current arsenal size, composition, and quality remain unknown to the general public, and it is hoped that the Israeli security apparatus has answers to these questions, according to the magazine.

It is unknown why “Israel” leaked Egypt’s military secrets, including this missile base. What is the purpose, and why now? Is it related to the incident where an Egyptian soldier killed Israeli soldiers? Are there messages behind it?

Or is it a natural occurrence in light of satellite surveillance, including private satellite monitoring that reveals many military secrets, as American satellites have done with Chinese nuclear facilities?

However, Israel Defense stated that the purpose of publishing missile images is to confirm that Egypt, indirectly, is responsible for the current missile threat against “Tel Aviv” from Tehran.

It claimed that Egypt had sold some of these Russian missiles in the past to North Korea, which developed them and then transferred the technology to Iran, which further developed them for their current missile program that worries “Israel.”

The magazine affiliated with the Israeli army emphasized that there is Zionist concern about where Egypt hides its missiles and why it continues to arm itself despite its peace agreement with “Israel.”

They stated that Egypt has been in a peace treaty with “Israel” since the early 1980s, yet it continues to arm itself with the latest weapons and possesses highly advanced missiles and military equipment.

Egypt is equipping its army with fleets of ships, submarines, and highly advanced combat vehicles with immense firepower capabilities.

The magazine further reported that Egypt also possesses long-range advanced missiles, as it was the first country in the Middle East to launch a number of Scud missiles at occupied cities during the October 6, 1973 war, which moved its soldiers due to their “hatred of Israel.”

The Israeli Occupation’s greatest concern is that despite the secrecy surrounding the strength of the Egyptian ballistic missiles, recent satellite images show that these missile systems, such as the R-300 Elbrus (RS-SS-1C Scud B) short-range system, are still operational.

“Israel” is also worried that Egypt may have acquired the North Korean long-range missile NoDong as part of their cooperation with Pyongyang.

Previously, the administration of former President Donald Trump froze a portion of Egypt’s military aid in August 2027 to pressure them to stop this cooperation.

Former Egyptian National Defense College director Major General Mohamed el-Ghobary responded to the Israeli Occupation’s question about why Egypt continues to arm itself with missiles, stating that the signing of the peace treaty does not mean depriving Egypt of possessing defensive missiles for self-defense.

He confirmed to Russian television on June 20, 2023, that “Israel” itself seeks to possess missiles with a different range that could reach Iran.

He pointed out that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip possess missiles used to target “Israel,” which is evident to everyone. Can a country as large and powerful as Egypt be expected not to have the means to defend itself?

He also emphasized that Israel’s promotion through its media about the strength of the Egyptian missile capabilities stems from the “culture of fear” prevailing among all Israelis.

 

Espionage on Egypt

On March 29, 2023, the Israeli army and its space agency successfully launched the Ofeq-13 satellite into space, equipped with advanced capabilities for espionage on Arab countries.

Boaz Levy, the president of the Israel Aerospace Industries, stated that the new satellite is the most advanced of its kind, with unique radar surveillance capabilities that can gather intelligence information in any weather and visibility conditions.

Avi Berger, the head of the Space Directorate in the Israeli Ministry of Defense, mentioned that Ofeq-13 produces synthetic imagery. Unlike capturing images that require a light source, satellite technology generates its own light through radar.

It emits a beam toward the Earth, and the reflections and changes enable the creation of an image similar to what we see through an optical camera.

He added that with the assistance of the satellite, they can see in both light and darkness, penetrating through clouds and capturing images under any weather conditions.

Israeli affairs expert Saeed Basharat told Al-Estiklal that “Ofeq-13 has extremely high capabilities. It obtains precise images despite adverse weather conditions, can capture images at night, and is capable of detecting and analyzing all objects on the ground directly.”

“The satellite will be used to detect missile platforms and monitor weapon smuggling and transportation. Normalization with Arab countries will not exempt them from being targets of Israeli espionage. In fact, they will become more susceptible to espionage operations.”

Therefore, it is believed that the images published by “Israel” of the Egyptian military base and the revelation of details about the Scud missiles are a message to Cairo that “Israel” is closely monitoring its military capabilities, despite the Camp David Accords.

Former Israeli Air Force General Haim Eshed previously mentioned that the Israeli space espionage program was specifically launched to spy on Egypt after the peace treaty and the evacuation of Israeli settlements in Sinai, according to Islam Online website.

He stated that “Israel” launched military satellites primarily to spy on Egypt, followed by other Arab countries and Iran as Zionist satellite surveillance technology developed.

In an interview with the Israeli website Hayadan on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Ofeq-3 satellite from the Palmachim Airbase in April 1995, the former head of the Israeli space program revealed the Israeli intelligence’s espionage on Egypt using the Ofeq surveillance satellites.

Prior to the launch of Ofeq-13, another spy satellite named Ofeq-16 was launched in July 2020 for surveillance purposes.

It was used to monitor the threats facing Israel, which require continuous monitoring, according to Haaretz newspaper.

The first Israeli satellites launched were Ofeq-1 on September 19, 1988, and Ofeq-2 on April 23, 1990.

Then the Israeli Occupation launched Ofeq-3 in 1995, which was the first imaging satellite and operated for five years before decomposing and crashing in 2000.

Likewise, both Ofeq-4, launched in 1998, and Ofeq-6, which fell during the launch on September 6, 2004, suffered from malfunctions and crashed.

As for the Israeli military satellites still in service, there is Ofeq-5, specializing in military imaging, launched on May 28, 2002, as well as the military imaging satellite Ofeq-7, which was launched on June 11, 2007.

The military imaging satellite Ofeq-9 was launched in June 2010, and the satellite Ofeq-10 was launched on April 9, 2014.

Ofeq-11 and Ofeq-16, both military imaging satellites, were launched on July 6, 2020.