Today (March 19), Egypt commemorated the 42nd anniversary of Taba Liberation Day which celebrates the 1982 evacuation of Israeli military forces from Tabah, and the raising of the Egyptian flag over the coastal Sinai town.
To mark the day, Egypt's Extra News satellite channel aired a report on the anniversary of Taba's liberation.
During the 1967 war, Israeli forces had occupied the Sinai Peninsula. However, negotiations between the Israeli and Egyptian governments in 1982 resulted in the return of the entire Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, as outlined in the first treaty of peace between Israel and an Arab country signed by late Egyptian president, Anwar al-Sadat in 1979.
Despite this agreement, Israeli negotiators claimed that Taba should remain with Israel, saying that the description of Taba as the administrative border between Palestine and Egypt in an October 1906 accord was ambiguous and did not clearly state if Taba falls within Egypt or Palestine. In an attempt to enforce their claim, Israel even constructed two Israeli hotels within the Taba zone after spring 1982.
Article 7 of the 1979 peace treaty stipulated that if direct negotiations failed to resolve such differences, any side could resort to international mediation.
In response, Egypt requested the formation of an international arbitration team, but the Israeli cabinet did not agree until January 13, 1986.
Finally, a panel was formed and empowered to decide on the location of the boundary pillars as of 1948, the date when the Palestine Mandate ended. It was agreed that the panel’s decision would be final and binding on both parties.
In 1988, the panel ruled in favor of Egypt, citing strong evidence presented by the Egyptian side. Israel was forced to evacuate Taba on March 19, 1989, ending nearly 15 years of Israeli control over the peninsula in 1967.
Taba became the last part of Egyptian lands to be liberated from Israel.
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