Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh went home to the Gaza Strip after a 4½-month sojourn in Qatar. Haniyeh decided to return from Qatar even though the process of his appointment as Hamas leader had not yet been finalized. Hamas' supreme body, the Shura Council, had elected Haniyeh to replace current political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal.

Residents of the Shati refugee camp in Gaza welcomed Haniyeh with great excitement on Jan. 27, hoping to hear good news from him regarding Hamas-Egypt relations after the series of meetings he held with Egyptian intelligence heads in Cairo. However, Haniyeh kept mum. In the near future, he will have to make one of the most difficult decisions of his life: whether to accept the conditions dictated to him by Egypt for a significant easement of the blockade on the Gaza Strip, or remain entrenched in his position and continue to cope with the harsh situation there.

Almost no one in Hamas today thinks that the movement can continue to rule over more than 1.8 million residents in the Gaza Strip indefinitely without the end of the closure or at least a significant loosening. The head of Egypt’s general intelligence, Khaled Fawzy, knows this, and told Haniyeh loud and clear: You must hand over to us any wanted person we ask for, whether he was directly involved in terror attacks in the Sinai Peninsula or just assisted jihadi agents.

Other Hamas officials who participated in the Cairo talks included Mousa Abu Marzouk and Ruhi Mushtaq, who were stunned by the Egyptian ultimatum. Any such suspects extradited to Egypt could be sentenced to death. Handing over suspects to another state, whether they are Hamas operatives or belong to other organizations, is likely to be seen in the movement as unforgivable surrender and betrayal.