Hamas shooting at Israel, but aims at Egypt

Our Palestinian affairs analyst Avi Issacharoff explains:

Hamas’s demands in the Cairo talks make it increasingly clear why the organization went to war. Hamas, it seems, initiated an escalation with Israel when its target was really Egypt. Hamas may have aimed its missiles at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, but Israel was ultimately a hostage in its effort to get closer to Cairo.

Hamas wants this in order to bring an end to the blockade on Gaza, open the Rafah border crossing, and in many ways to ensure its own survival.

Cairo might have no patience for the Palestinian group, treat it like an enemy for its deep connection with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and want to humiliate it, but its own regional standing is no less important. Cairo does not want to see the involvement of any other regional actor, not Turkey and certainly not Qatar

And still, as even senior Hamas officials admit, there is no other mediator in the region. Just like real estate agents who have a monopoly on a certain area, Egypt has a monopoly on Israel-Hamas relations.