Not long after entering the land of Canaan, according to the book of Joshua, the Israelites sacked the city of Hazor, whose king exercised power over other local potentates. The celebrated general-cum-archaeologist Yigael Yadin first excavated the city’s ruins in the 1950s, but the site continues to be studied. A recent dig unearthed a gigantic basalt staircase from the Canaanite period, thought to be part of a palace complex. Amanda Borschel-Dan writes:

Located north of the Sea of Galilee on a trade route connecting Egypt and Babylon, Hazor was [among] the largest biblical-era sites in Israel. With an estimated population of 20,000, its size and strategic location made it an important city in antiquity. After its fiery destruction, it was rebuilt by the Israelites, perhaps by King Solomon. Several hundred years later, the Israelite settlement was destroyed by the Assyrians under Tiglath-Pileser III in 732 BCE.

[T]he remains of the last Israelite settlement of Hazor were also uncovered this year, including a considerable quantity of shattered pottery vessels — evidence of its destruction.

[The excavation’s co-director Shlomit] Bechar said that while the stairs, strangely modern in appearance, are grand in their own right, it is quite possible that they are not the staircase into the [main] palace but rather lead to another courtyard, which could then lead to another large staircase.

Alongside the finely worked black stone steps, there is also significant archaeological evidence of the large conflagration that destroyed the Canaanite settlement. Bechar said the building, constructed in the 13th century BCE, existed for 200 to 250 years.

Concluded in 1979, the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty ended nearly 30 years of intermittent warfare, and proved one of the most enduring and beneficial products of Middle East diplomacy. But Egypt may not have been upholding its end of the bargain, write Jonathan Schanzer and Mariam Wahba:

Article III, subsection two of the peace agreement’s preamble explicitly requires both parties “to ensure that that acts or threats of belligerency, hostility, or violence do not originate from and are not committed from within its territory.” This clause also mandates both parties to hold accountable any perpetrators of such acts.

Recent Israeli operations along the Philadelphi Corridor, the narrow strip of land bordering Egypt and Gaza, have uncovered multiple tunnels and access points used by Hamas—some in plain sight of Egyptian guard towers. While it could be argued that Egypt has lacked the capacity to tackle this problem, it is equally plausible that it lacks the will. Either way, it’s a serious problem.

Was Egypt motivated by money, amidst a steep and protracted economic decline in recent years? Did Cairo get paid off by Hamas, or its wealthy patron, Qatar? Did the Iranians play a role? Was Egypt threatened with violence and unrest by the Sinai’s Bedouin Union of Tribes, who are the primary profiteers of smuggling, if it did not allow the tunnels to operate? Or did the Sisi regime take part in this operation because of an ideological hatred of Israel?