GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Ever since the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on July 3, 2013, the Hamas movement has found itself in Egypt's crosshairs. The Cairo regime embarked on a campaign to destroy the border tunnels. It accused Hamas of supporting terrorist organizations in the Sinai Peninsula and called Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, a terrorist organization. Egypt also tightened its blockade on the Gaza Strip and closed the Rafah crossing. Meanwhile, Egypt's leading role in the Palestinian cause has faded.

However, the Hamas delegation's March 12 visit to Cairo may have brought back some hope that a new page of bilateral relations between the two parties will be opened. In a May 17 statement by its spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas welcomed the recent Egyptian statements about reconciliation with the movement and confirmed its readiness to deal with these efforts calling for ending the Palestinian division and opening a new page with Egypt.

Al-Monitor spoke to Abu Zuhri, a native of Rafah and lecturer in the Department of History and Archaeology at Gaza's Islamic University since 2000. He is currently an assistant professor in the department and holds a doctorate in Islamic history.

The text of the interview follows: