Once again, Hamas and Cairo are at loggerheads. Is there anything new under the sun, reports Dina Ezzat The open clash this week between some Gaza-based Hamas leaders and Cairo is not unprecedented. Since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip on the eastern borders of Egypt, relations between the Islamist movement and Cairo have known little else but conflict. Egypt has never hidden its unease with, and at times flat rejection of, the political gain scored by Hamas, a movement that opposes Egypt's strategic stance of seeking a negotiated settlement between Arabs and Israel. Further, Egypt associates Hamas with the Muslim Brotherhood, the ultimate political enemy of the Egyptian regime, despite all denials by Hamas officials. This week's confrontation, between Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, the prominent Gaza Hamas leader, and Hossam Zaki, spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, over the role of the Foreign Ministry in managing relations between Egypt and Hamas is not the worst. "It might be a very open confrontation, but we have been in confrontation with Hamas since the day they took over Gaza," commented one Egyptian official. According to a Hamas source, "We have had problems that are much worse than these statements and counterstatements. We have had Hamas members arrested and jailed by the Egyptian authorities." Indeed, the worst time for relations between the Islamic resistance movement and Egyptian authorities was in the winter of 2008 when Palestinians, frustrated by the harsh siege Israel imposed on the already impoverished Strip, decided to breakthrough the border with Egypt and inundated the eastern cities of Rafah and Arish. At the time, President Hosni Mubarak ordered restraint on the part of the Egyptian security forces as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians broke the border. Later, Egypt took steps to fortify the border with Gaza, including installing steel plates deep underground along most of the 14-kilometre border, to hinder the construction of illicit tunnels used to smuggle food, medicine and other goods from Egypt into Gaza. There were also other exceptionally challenging moments, including the arrest of Hizbullah associates trying to smuggle equipment into Gaza and the feud over the Egyptian stance on reconciliation between Hamas and political foe Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority ousted in Gaza by Hamas. "We are used to this. Egyptian officials like to get at us from time to time," said another Hamas figure. "The problem is that such attacks will not lead us closer to Egypt, or force us to be more accommodating to Egyptian demands," he added. The confrontation of this week started when Al-Zahhar criticised Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit in an interview with the independent Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Yom. In the interview, Al-Zahhar said that Abul-Gheit had stated that Hamas "has to sign to [the] reconciliation paper" drafted by Cairo last winter "as is, with no amendments and no annexes," despite Hamas's announced reservations on the draft. Al-Zahhar said that Abul-Gheit is not informed of developments in communication between his movement and Cairo, which are essentially conducted through the office of General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman. The Hamas leader also accused the top Egyptian diplomat of being in the habit of making "statements that provoke Palestinians". The response from Abul-Gheit's spokesman -- directed not just at Al-Zahhar but also at Hamas leaders in general -- warned of "an angry Egyptian reaction". Hamas is not buying it. It is convinced that the latest spat is about "fudging" an attempt by Arab League Secretary- General Amr Moussa to bring Hamas and Fatah into direct talks that could end dissension between them. "Moussa tried to help, but typically the Egyptian Foreign Ministry wanted to fudge the initiative," said one Hamas source. But according to Zaki, Ismail Haniyeh, the Gaza-based prime minister, offered Moussa a whole new proposal during his recent visit to Gaza. The ideas presented, Zaki said, would all but render the Egyptian reconciliation plan redundant, something Cairo cannot accept. "This is the problem. The Foreign Ministry is trying to act as if it is in control. It does not care about what would make reconciliation possible. It does not care about making life easier for Palestinians suffering in Gaza. It just cares about issuing statements, angry statements," said the Hamas source. He added that Egypt had declined to cooperate with other Arab initiatives to broker "a truly fair reconciliation deal". "They refused Syria, Qatar and Turkey. Now they refuse Moussa. What can we do?" "This is what Hamas wants. Hamas does not want reconciliation. They want to remain in control of Gaza and they don't want the Palestinian Authority back there. This is the bottom line," commented one Egyptian diplomat on condition of anonymity. "Hamas leaders are not worried about the grave consequences of the de facto split in the little that is left of the Palestinian territories," he added. Hamas officials insist they will not sign the reconciliation plan Egypt drafted because it is biased towards Fatah. For their part, Egyptian officials have no plans to accommodate Hamas's reservations on the Egyptian proposal, with some making reference to US pressure in this respect. Thus the stalemate appears set to continue. Hamas officials say that they are not getting out of Gaza. And Egyptian officials say they will not accept that Gaza be turned into "Hamasistan".
