Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry sharply criticized Hamas on Saturday, saying that "the organization is outside the Palestinian consensus, which recognizes Israel and wants to reach negotiations with it, because [Hamas] is not ready to give up its support for violence."

Shoukry made these comments at a press conference held at the Munich Security Conference. He also said that "we must give an account of how Hamas gained power in the Gaza Strip, and why it received financial support to increase the division between it and the other peacekeeping Palestinian factions — whether these are the Palestinian Authority, the PLO or the Palestinian public itself."