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Pentagon reviewing Sinai peacekeeping operations

Washington has formally notified Cairo and Tel Aviv that it is looking into replacing some personnel with technology
US troops from the Sinai peacekeeping mission prepare to board a helicopter in 2014 (AFP)
Par MEE staff

The Pentagon has notified Egypt and Israel that it is reviewing its peacekeeping operations in Egypt's violence-wracked Sinai Peninsula.

Officials said they are looking into the possibility of technology replacing the work of around 700 US peacekeepers in the region.

"I don't think anyone's talking about a [complete] withdrawal," Pentagon spokesperson Jeff Davis told a press conference on Tuesday.

"I think we're just going to look at the number of people we have there and see if there are functions that can be automated or done through remote monitoring."

However, a spokesperson for the White House on Tuesday maintained that Washington's "commitment to this treaty and this mission has never been stronger."

Israel, which fears attack from within Egyptian territory in the restive Sinai Peninsula, last year protested proposals to cut back peacekeeping forces in the region, saying such a move would "reward terrorism".

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