An official Egyptian source denied, on Sunday, Israeli media reports about “Egypt making preparations with the aim of military intervention in Yemen.”

The responsible Egyptian source stated, in statements reported by the Cairo News Channel, that such reports, and the misleading information they contain, have no basis in truth.

Israeli reports claimed that “Egypt is preparing to strike the Houthis after incurring major economic losses as a result of escalating threats against the Suez Canal, which is a vital artery for global trade.”

The reports also claimed that Egypt “has shown an increasing desire to play an active role in the Yemeni conflict, with aircraft being prepared to carry out air operations targeting the Houthis, who have raised growing concerns about the safety of navigation through the Red Sea.”

Since the end of November 2023, international shipping companies have changed their routes, avoiding passage in the Red Sea, following the Yemeni Houthi group’s targeting of ships passing through the shipping lane, “in response to the continuation of the Israeli war against the Gaza Strip.” This prompted international shipping companies to change their course.

Egypt has repeatedly indicated that navigation traffic on the Suez Canal is affected by regional tensions. The Suez Canal General Authority announced “flexible policies” to reduce the impact of Red Sea tensions on revenues.

Suez Canal revenues declined from $9.4 billion during the fiscal year 2022-2023 to $7.2 billion during 2023-2024, according to official statements last October (the dollar is equal to 50.7 pounds in Egyptian banks).

The Suez Canal is one of the main sources of hard currency in Egypt, and the World Bank previously predicted, last April, that “the continuation of the crisis will cause losses of about $3.5 billion in Egypt’s dollar revenues.” This is equivalent to 10 percent of the country’s net dollar reserves.”