Out with Egypt
, in with Germany? Source in the Hamas
movement want the role of mediator in the deal for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to be shifted from Egypt to Germany, following the successful mediation in the prisoner exchange deal
between Israel
and Hizbullah
last month, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Monday.
According to the report, Hamas fears that Egypt views it as a branch of the opposition Muslim Brothers movement.
Awaiting Son's Return
Shalit's father in al-Quds daily: Hamas delaying release of Palestinians / Roee Nahmias
'Hamas' insistence on very specific list of prisoners it wants freed preventing release of hundreds of Palestinians,' Noam Shalit says ion op-ed published in east Jerusalem daily, adding, 'My son's kidnapping brought about siege, poverty in Gaza
"We are under the general impression that Egypt is not interested in seeing Hamas gaining an achievement through the deal, and therefore it is has no enthusiasm in investing efforts in order to convince Israel to accept our conditions for the deal," a senior Hamas member told the newspaper.
The Shalit deal is only one of the issues which have created the impression among Hamas members that Egypt is only making things difficult for the movement rather than helping it succeed.
The paper reported that the tensions between Hamas and Egypt have worsened recently on the backdrop of Cairo's refusal to open the Rafah crossing connecting between Sinai and the Gaza Strip, prompting senior Hamas members to voice their criticism in public.
Over the past few days, Hamas spokesmen have harshly criticized Egypt, saying that it was imposing a siege on the Gaza Strip along with Israel and causing Palestinian suffering.
"Hamas feels that Egypt is treating it as a wing of the Muslim Brothers movement which has gained hostility in Egypt, and hence the Egyptian attitude towards Hamas," said Dr. Walid al-Mudalal, a political science lecturer and a political commentator.
"Egypt views Hamas in the Gaza Strip as a strategic danger rather than as strategic ammunition, and thus fears the Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip and believes it damages its national security," he added.
A prominent Hamas member told the paper that senior Egyptian officials have expressed exaggerated fear towards any communication attempt between Hamas and the Muslim Brothers movement.
According to the man, after visiting Cairo last year and meeting with a delegation of Egyptian parliament members on behalf of the Muslim Brothers at the hotel he stayed in, he suffered a series of severe acts of harassment on the part of the Egyptian authorities on his way back to the Gaza Strip, despite his position as a important minister in the Ismail Haniyeh government.
Gilad Shalit was kidnapped
into the Gaza Strip 778 days ago.
RSS
