GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — During a Shura Council meeting of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan Feb. 14, the group decided to dissociate from the mother organization in Egypt. The decision surprised some Muslim Brotherhood leaders elsewhere, including Hamas, which represents the Brotherhood’s Palestine branch. The decision also raised questions on whether Hamas could take the same step. Hamas’ links to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has been one source of tension with the current Egyptian regime.

Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since mid-2007, has seen its relationship with Egypt go up and down. But the golden age of the relationship between the two sides was during the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood. That rule ended with the removal of President Mohammed Morsi from power in June 2013. Hamas’ relationship with Egypt has been tense ever since, with constant Egyptian incitement against it.

The move by Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood resonated with some Brotherhood leaders in Palestine and revived discussion of the need to change Hamas’ charter, which some see as out of date and in need of substantial changes. It explicitly states in Article 2 that the Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, is a wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

There are disagreements within the group about the causes and motivations behind the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood's decision to amend its charter and dissociate from Egypt’s Brotherhood.