Senior Egyptian source says PM trying to shift blame to other countries for war’s failures

Egypt continues to push back on Israel’s accusations this week that Cairo failed to prevent smuggling into Gaza, with a “high-ranking Egyptian source” telling Al Qahera al-Ikhbariya that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements are unrealistic, and that “he is trying to blame other countries for his failure to achieve his goals in the Gaza Strip.”

The Egyptian official also says that recent months have proven that Netanyahu does not care about the return of Israeli hostages if it gets in the way of his personal interests.

On Wednesday a source said that Netanyahu was blaming Cairo for arms smuggling taking place from Egypt into Gaza to shift focus from his own failure to stop arms smuggling from Israel into Gaza. Netanyahu also allows smuggling into the West Bank “to justify his aggression against the Palestinian people.”