Complicated web of relationships are strained as Israel bombards Gaza in retaliation to Hamas attack
Egypt, which shares a border with Israel and Gaza, has long had a complicated relationship with Hamas, not least due to its genesis as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. While Cairo signed a formal peace treaty with Israel in 1978 at Camp David, the Egyptian public has tended to be more pro-Palestinian than successive Egyptian regimes – save for the brief-lived government led by the Muslim Brotherhood that was toppled in 2013. While Cairo has acted as an interlocutor between Hamas and Israel in times of conflict, Egypt has long been wary about a desire by some on the Israeli right for Egypt to take responsibility for Gaza, pointing to the Egyptian administration of the coastal strip from 1948-67.
