Egypt is the country of contradictions

While Egypt is receiving a senior level Hamas delegation headed by Ismail Haniyeh, head of the movement’s political bureau, Egypt’s legitimate president is being tried on charges of plotting with Hamas. This is after Hamas was accused of being a terrorist organisation, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and accused of plotting against Egypt and infiltrating its borders with armed militants, breaking down doors, opening prisons, and releasing prisoners during the January 25th revolution – including Muslim Brotherhood political prisoners – stealing cattle, creating chaos in the country and killing protestors in Tahrir Square.

They were then accused of sending terrorists into Sinai via tunnels to kill Egyptian soldiers in Sinai and were accused of being Egypt’s enemy, against which a fierce media campaign was launched in Egypt. Netanyahu and the Egyptian coup-led government backed this campaign and threatened to bomb Gaza.

After all this hatred and hostility positions changed overnight. We suddenly found that Hamas officials, after days of back-to-back meetings with Egyptian intelligence, announced that the relationship between Hamas and Egypt is leaning towards mutual trust and strategic cooperation. During these meetings the parties decided that some Hamas figures would remain in Cairo to be the point of contact between Egypt and the movement in order to follow up on various issues.

Read more: Ignore the spin, the siege of Gaza endangers everyone, Israelis included, so end it now

Hamas also announced it would be dissolving the administrative committee that manages affairs in Gaza and invited the unity government in Ramallah to return to Gaza in order to manage affairs there. The movement also agreed to hold elections, as well as agreeing to Palestinian reconciliation with Fatah and President Abu Mazen. They also confirmed that Dahlan’s group is a real force inside Gaza, and that 16 out of 34 Fatah members of the Legislative Council belong to the group, meaning it is considered a real current and component in the Palestinian arena that cannot be overlooked.

In addition to this, Dahlan’s members provided tangible humanitarian and social assistance to alleviate the siege on Gaza without being asked by anyone, at a time when Abu Mazen cut salaries and the electricity from the Gaza Strip.

What happened and what is happening behind the scenes in the dark rooms where CIA spy Muhammad Dahlan usually pokes his head out from? Is what is happening part of the deal of the century promoted by Trump since becoming president, especially since the person promoting this deal with him is the coup-leading Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. This could be the case, especially since Al-Sisi is currently in the US to attend the UN General Assembly meetings.

#SisiEra

I think Al-Sisi wants to complete the deal of the century by taming Hamas and gradually controlling the movement, if he cannot actually eliminate it completely by means of the planned elections. What is needed now is an authority in Gaza that agrees and blesses the annexation of Sinai to Gaza to make it an alternative homeland for the Palestinians. Since Hamas, in its capacity as a resistance movement, would not agree to this, it must be replaced with a new authority or it must be revamped, replacing the old Hamas with a new Hamas, dressed in new clothing produced by Dahlan, embroidered by Egypt, and sewed by Israel.

Therefore, if Hamas is not careful regarding this suspicious rapprochement with Egypt, it will fall into the trap. It is Hamas’s head that is wanted on a platter; it is the head of the Islamic resistance and the movement’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, that is wanted on a platter. Israel was unable to defeat the Qassam Brigades, so now it wants what it couldn’t get during the wars on Gaza through negotiations, especially since Al-Sisi also wants to completely eliminate Hamas due to his hatred for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Due to all of this, I am wary of an agreement between Egypt and Hamas and I do not want Hamas to fall for it. However, it seems that both parties are trapped in a crisis and want a solution, but the solution should not be suicide.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.