Annually, April 25 marks the occasion of Sinai Liberation Day - a date on which Egyptian officials respectfully pay homage to the country's military martyrs.
Throughout the commemoration, wreaths are placed on the Tombs of the Unknown Soldiers and at the grave of former Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat.
In addition, for workers of public and private sectors alike, Sinai Liberation Day is also a public holiday in Egypt.
Here are five things you need to know about the significance of this day in modern Egyptian history.
1. April 25, 2018, marks the 36th anniversary of retrieving Sinai from Israel
Sinai Liberation Day commemorates the withdrawal of the last group of Israeli military forces from the Sinai Peninsula in 1982. The withdrawal of Israeli troops from Sinai marked an end of the 15 years of the Israeli control over the occupied peninsula.
The return of Sinai to Egyptian sovereignty came as a result of the 1979 >Camp David Peace Accords that followed the 1973 war between Egypt and Israel.
This is how The New York Times reported the withdrawal of Israeli troops at the time: "In a somber mood, Israel withdrew the last of its soldiers from the Sinai peninsula today, leaving the desert wilderness to Egypt as provided by the first treaty of peace between Israel and an Arab country."
2. Ariel Sharon was the Israeli defense minister back then
He pledged that leaving Sinai would be Israel's final territorial concession for peace, and he promised the Israeli public to expand illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
3. Sinai has witnessed many wars between Israel and Egypt
In the aftermaths of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Israel captured part of northern Sinai, only to retreat under immense pressure from both the United States and Britain.
After the Suez Crisis, the 1956 war was waged, in which a triple attack against Egypt by Israel, Britain, and France took place. In the aftermath of the war, Israel captured most of Sinai but soon afterward, it withdrew in the face of American pressure.
All of Sinai peninsula fell under the control of the Israeli occupation after the six-day war of 1967 in which Israel also seized the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Old City of Jerusalem, and the Syrian Golan Heights.
Sinai also served as a strategic buffer zone for Israel during the fierce war of 1973, launched by Egypt and Syria against Israeli troops to retrieve both the occupied territories of the Golan Heights and Sinai peninsula.
4. The peninsula's liberation was finally sealed by the return of Taba in 1988
The very last part of the triangular peninsula linking Africa with Asia was also retrieved by diplomatic means.
Taba finally returned to Egypt's sovereignty after seven bitter years of disputes between Egypt and Israel over the small seaside town.
5. It's worth mentioning that retrieving Sinai is not the only thing Egyptians commemorate every April
The month of April also brings back painful flashbacks to many Egyptian families in the small village of Bahr Al-Baqar, in Sharqiya governorate.
On 8 April 1970, the village had many of its children torn to pieces by strikes that emerged from Israeli warplanes. The U.S.-made F4 Phantom II bombed Bahr Al-Baqar Primary school, slaying 34 school children and injuring at least 50 more.