While all eyes in the Arab world are focused on Egypt, in Palestine, people have one eye on the events in Egypt and another on Hamas. Observers realize that the political future of Hamas and its current position cannot be separated from what is occurring in the Egyptian political arena.
Prior to the revolution, Egypt served as an incubator for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. Following the Jan. 25 Revolution it maintained this role, yet with one essential difference: Members of the Muslim Brotherhood were the decision-makers. Hamas, according to its charter, is one of the Brotherhood's wings in Palestine. Thus, the link between the deteriorating situation in Egypt and Hamas' political situation was inevitable, especially since Egypt serves as the only "lung" to the outside world for the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has controlled since 2007.
