The El Nakheil Fault System, located along the northwestern margin of the Red Sea in Egypt, comprises a segmented normal fault network strongly influenced by inherited Precambrian (Pan-African) basement struc tures. Through integrated geological field mapping, detailed structural measurements and remote sensing ana lyses including high-resolution digital elevation models (DEM) and ESRI satellite imagery across study area, this study identifies eight major fault segments spaced 2–3 km apart. These segments are linked via a progression of relay ramps ranging from soft-linked and hard-linked to fully breached zones, with bed dips varying between approximately 28 ◦ and 66 ◦ , reflecting localized strain accommodation during segment linkage. Displacement profile analysis indicates a spatial transition from ENE–WSW trending strike-slip faulting to NW–SE oriented normal faulting in the northern sector, consistent with reactivation of Pan-African shear zones under an oblique dextral extension regime quantified by an obliquity angle ( α ) of ~+20 ◦ . This regime has generated characteristic structural features including restraining and releasing bends that produce segmental elevation differences of up to ~150 m. The fault system evolution supports an isolated fault growth model in which individual segments initially propagate independently before mechanically linking through relay ramps. Paleostress inversions further confirm a transpressional stress field associated with the reactivated basement structures. These findings underscore the fundamental role of structural inheritance in controlling fault segmentation, orientation, and linkage along rift margins. Increasing structural complexity is observed proximal to the Ham rawin Shear Zone, highlighting its influence as a master tectonic feature. The study advances understanding of fault zone architecture in oblique rift settings, with implications for basin evolution, fault-controlled fluid migration, and resource exploration in continental extensional environments.