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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Egypt's relationship with Hamas: What does history tell us? - analysis |
| 2024-05-22 |
| [JPost] October 7 deeply impacted Egypt, however, Cairo has not appeared to excoriate Hamas for the attack, leaving questions about how this all transpired. As the IDF pushes deeper into Rafah they are finding tunnels and dismantling Hamas terrorist infrastructure. The offensive in Rafah was opposed by Egypt before it happened, however there have been less statements since it actually began. There remains a lack of clarity about Egypt’s overall position today and also what may have transpired in the years leading up to October 7. It's important to begin the process of understanding how Hamas became so powerful prior to the October 7 attack. How did it stockpile so many weapons? Where did the weapons come from? Hamas manufactures many types of rockets locally, but it also acquired RPGs and other types of systems that appear to have been trafficked from abroad. In the past Hamas smuggled weapons using tunnels in Rafah that went to Egypt. It was widely believed these tunnels were dismantled years ago. There is also a crossing between Egypt and Gaza called the Rafah crossing. Ostensibly this was only for approved types of aid entering Gaza. Israel maintained a blockade of Gaza for many years to prevent weapons entering. However, weapons did enter. In fact, Gaza may have been one of the most heavily armed places per capita in the world on October 6. If it was under blockade, how did this happen. EGYPT'S ROLE There are going to be a lot of questions asked in coming months about Egypt’s role here. Egypt and Israel appeared to have relatively warm ties prior to October 7. Egypt’s government is opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas has origins in the Brotherhood. Egypt also opposes terrorism. Therefore many would have concluded that Egypt opposes Hamas. However, it is less clear now what Egypt’s role has been. .., The Abraham Accords and the Negev Summit and other trends in the region were supposed to be toward regional stability. This meant Egypt was supposed to benefit through peace and stability. Why would it allow Hamas to start a huge war? The only reason Egypt may have been lured into thinking Hamas was contained was due to Doha and Ankara, and other moves in the region. Egypt may have been told to go soft on Hamas and in exchange Turkey and Doha and others wouldn’t back the Brotherhood anymore inside Egypt. |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #2 Hamas and the Houthi have put a tourniquet on Egypt’s economy. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2024-05-22 08:10 |
| #1 Yada, yada, yada. The fact is that Gaza was full of weapons & war materials that they could not get except through Egypt. Which, once again, shows that applying Western logic to Arab behavior is a fallacy. |
| Posted by: Grom the reflective 2024-05-22 00:41 |