‘My blood will go in vain’: Egyptian soldiers say their country has failed Gaza

Since the Israeli onslaught on neighbouring Gaza in October, Egyptian soldier Mohamed Omar* has felt helpless. 

Omar, 23, has served as a patrolling officer in Egypt's North Sinai, along the border with Gaza's Rafah, over the past year. The region is part of a demilitarised zone according to security pacts between Egypt and Israel, and only soldiers with light weapons are allowed to be deployed there.

“It is painful to know that you can help, but you are shackled and cannot help rescue your people from being slaughtered,” he told Middle East Eye while on leave in Port Said, a destination for soldiers to rest before heading off to their units in North Sinai.

“We've been watching and hearing how intense the Israeli bombing in Rafah is, and we see dozens of Palestinian families passing by the borders.”

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