The High Administrative Court in Egypt on Monday rejected the appeal of a lower court’s decision in June [JURIST report] to stop the government from handing over two uninhabited islands, Tiran and Sanafir, in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia stating that the government failed to provide any evidence [BBC report] that the islands originally belonged to Saudi Arabia. The islands are at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba and control the narrow shipping lanes [Al Jazeera report] leading north to Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan. Both islands remain uninhabited but for the Egypt military and multinational peacekeepers stationed there. The transfer, which was signed in April, sparked protests across Egypt at which hundreds were detained. A group of lawyers, including former presidential candidate Khaled Ali, also opposed the transfer. Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi [BBC profile], a proponent of the transfer stated that the islands had always belonged to Saudi Arabia [BBC report] and that Egypt’s troops had been stationed there only at the request of Saudi Arabia in 1950 for its protection. However, al-Sisi has been accused of bias toward Saudi Arabia, which has backed al-Sisi financially since he led the military overthrow of his Islamist predecessor, Mohammed Morsi, in 2013. Furthermore, Ali added that a 1906 maritime treaty between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire established Egypt’s sovereignty over the islands and that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia did not even exist until 1932. News of the decision was met with public jubilation in Cairo and across Egypt, and Ali stated that the decision was a “victory for Egypt.”

Last year Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement [JURIST report] to improve stability and safety in the region. The agreement, entitled the “Cairo Declaration” and signed in Cairo by al-Sisi and Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aims to boost military and social ties in the region, as well as improve economic stability. The relationship between the two countries has been improving since the ouster of Morsi in 2013. Saudi Arabia has in turn offered billions of dollars to aid Egypt in its joint bombing campaign with the Saudis against Yemen. The pact also sets out plans to build a new joint Arab military force to combat regional terrorism. This decision might very well cast a stain on the relations between the two countries.