Biden administration overrides human rights to grant Egypt US$1.3 bn in military aid, citing US security interests regarding Gaza

A United States State Department spokesperson cited on Wednesday night America’s national security interests in the context of Israel’s aggression on Gaza as the reason the administration is overriding rights conditions on military aid to Egypt and granting Cairo the maximum possible amount this year.

Amid Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, the US has relied on Egypt as a mediator in efforts to establish a ceasefire formula, which have stalled in recent weeks.

Each year since the beginning of Biden’s administration, the US has withheld a small portion, capped at  a maximum of US$320 million of its $1.3 billion military aid budget for Egypt on the basis of widespread practices violating human rights.

But this year Cairo will receive the full amount, the State Department spokesperson said  on Wednesday night. “This decision is important to advancing regional peace and Egypt’s specific and ongoing contributions to US national security priorities, particularly to finalize a ceasefire agreement for Gaza, bring the hostages home, surge humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in need, and help bring an enduring end to the Israel-Hamas conflict.”

Egypt will therefore receive the full $1.3 billion in aid over the coming year, despite a lack of progress on human rights concerns raised to Egypt’s government by the US, according to US Senators on the foreign relations committee.

“The law is clear: Egypt is required to make ‘clear and consistent progress’ in releasing political prisoners in order to receive $95 million,” said US Senator Chris Coons. “The Egyptian government has failed that test. Over the last year, for every single political prisoner Egypt has released, it has jailed two more. That’s not clear and consistent progress.”

Coons cited the “thousands and thousands of political prisoners the government has continued to refuse to release,” naming US residents Hosam Khalaf and Salah Soltan.

The military aid agreement also comes as lawyers, journalists and rights advocates voice concerns that amendments lawmakers are processing regarding the Criminal Procedures Code will fail to address widespread practices used by authorities to evade legal stipulations and keep defendants being investigated in political cases in remand detention for years at a time. 

The US has relied on Egypt as a mediator with resistance factions in its efforts to concrete a ceasefire formula to bring an end to Israel’s aggression on Gaza, which has killed over 40,000 Palestinians thus far. The latest round of talks stalled, with a deadlock formed as Israel continues to further its occupation of the strip, and Hamas refuses to accept a deal that will not guarantee Israel’s withdrawal.

A key area of the deal includes the future of the Philadelphi  Corridor on Egypt’s border with Gaza, which is currently occupied by Israeli forces. Egyptian officials speaking anonymously to the press have rejected an ongoing Israeli presence in the area. US mediators have reportedly been involved in seeking a technical solution to the security management of the area, which until May was the only border area of the Gaza Strip which was not controlled by Israel.