Egypt threatens Hamas rule
Hamas has managed to survive and even become stronger while facing years of economic pressure from Israel, but now it must cope with Cairo's ambitions to topple it.
If the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip hoped that the Egyptian army would leave them alone after completing its operation to seal off the 1,200 tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip and the Egyptian town of Rafah, this week it received a very disturbing indication of what lies ahead on the Sinai border. Official sources in Cairo revealed to a Cairo-based Reuters reporter that cutting off oxygen to the Gaza Strip was just the first stage in their war against the Palestinian organization, and that the actions they were taking against Hamas were not over. According to these same sources in Cairo, the next stage will be an attempt to topple the Hamas regime, which was described as a security threat to Egypt.
“Gaza is our next stop,” an anonymous senior official declared, and he explained that it was necessary to topple Hamas to smash the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Ever since former President Mohammed Morsi was forced out of office in July 2013, most of the Muslim Brotherhood’s leaders have been arrested, along with many activists, who were considered to be the movement’s hard core. Morsi has since been put on trial for charges that include collaboration with the Palestinian terrorist organization. The members of the Muslim Brotherhood protested the overthrow of their government and the banning of it, but the Egyptian military used force, including live bullets, to break up those demonstrations, not leaving them any chance to continue.
