The Egypt Court of Urgent Matters on Sunday struck down a ruling by the Egypt High Administrative Court regarding the transfer of two uninhabited Red Sea islands from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian government transferred the two islands [reuters report], Tiran and Sanafir, to Saudi Arabia in April 2016, based on the belief that they had always belonged to Saudi Arabia. Sunday’s decision will let the transfer move forward, but the decision is still subject to appeal and parliamentary approval. The decision is controversial, as critics hold that the Court of Urgent Matters is a lower court and does not have jurisdiction [news report] to overrule decisions made by the High Administrative Court. The Court of Urgent Matters is seen by some as a tool the Egyptian parliament is using to either stall or push the deal through, despite the deal being struck down the High Administrative Court. The transfer of the islands has also been controversial, as critics have accused the Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi of giving the islands to Saudi Arabia in exchange for financial support [BBC report] for al-Sisi and the current Egyptian government.

The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Egypt has been getting closer since President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi took power in Egypt. In 2015 Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement [JURIST report] to improve stability and safety in the region. A year later, in 2016, the agreement to transfer the two islands in question was made between the two countries. In June 2016 the transfer was invalidated [JURIST report] by a lower court in Cairo. In January 2017 the High Administrative Court rejected an appeal [JURIST report] of the lower court’s decision, thereby halting the transfer of the islands to Saudi Arabia.