Morsi Ally Hamas Faces Waning Sway - Aided by the Muslim Brotherhood's Rise, the Group Loses a Critical Patron

 

From The Wall Street Journal:

 

Hamas and its supporters in the Palestinian territories once touted the recent upheaval across the Middle East as an "Islamic Spring,'' but the coup that deposed Egypt's leader has left the militant group bracing for a backlash.
 

The rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, which supported President Mohammed Morsi in Egypt, was a boon for the Islamist movement's militant offshoot next door in the Gaza Strip.

 

The Brotherhood helped the group gain prestige in the region after years of diplomatic and physical isolation, and helped to set up a new headquarters in Egypt and broker a cease fire with Israel.

But the coup, as well as the deflated image of political Islam in the region, has the organization feeling besieged once again.
 

Now that Hamas has been stripped of a critical patron, Gazans expect Egypt to tighten control of the border and the militant group's security officials fear reprisals in Egypt as part of the military's crackdown there, said a senior Hamas security official in Gaza.

The official said he also expected Hamas to have to decamp from Egypt, where the Brotherhood had welcomed Hamas after its leadership fled its longtime Damascus headquarters due to Syria's civil war.

"We were very upset and frustrated," the official said. "We are sure it will have a negative impact on us sooner or later.''
 

Relations between Hamas and Egypt turned testy even before Mr. Morsi's demise. Gazans have grappled with price rises in recent months because Egypt's army has been shutting down smuggling activity underneath the Gaza-Sinai border. 

 

The end of the Brotherhood's rule in Egypt is the latest in a series of setbacks for the Palestinian group as a result of the Arab awakening in 2011. The organization has lost two longtime financial and military backers: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and more recently Iran.

 

Hamas spokesmen weren't available for comment on Thursday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah organization is a bitter rival to Hamas, released a statement congratulating the Egyptian armed forces for "preserving Egypt's security'' and anti-Morsi protesters "who rose up to save Egypt.'' Hamas stayed quiet because its leaders, based both in Egypt and in Qatar, are afraid of being viewed as meddling in Egyptian domestic affairs, the Gaza official said. 

 

It might be too late: The Palestinian militant group has been accused in the Egyptian press and by some in the Egyptian public as being involved in attacks on Egyptian soldiers in Sinai and of training Brotherhood security guards. Hamas rejects those accusations.
 

The security official said he expected Egyptian forces to clamp down even tighter on smuggling activity and to block the movement of Hamas officials at the Egyptian border. The smuggling tunnels funnel basic commercial goods in short supply from Israel's tightly controlled border crossing as well as weaponry used by Gaza militants against Israel.

Nashat Aqtash, a former campaign adviser to Hamas-allied candidates in the West Bank, predicted years of hardship for Hamas in Gaza. "After the failed experience of the Muslim Brotherhood in ruling Egypt, there will be no mercy on Hamas. Hamas will have to depend on its own power,'' he said. "Before, almost all the Egyptian people had sympathy with Hamas. I'm not so sure any more.''

 

One year ago, after years of isolation by the regime of former Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak, the Brotherhood's electoral victory gave Hamas unprecedented access in Egypt. It also gave Egypt increased leverage over Hamas, something which was widely credited with helping Mr. Morsi and the Egyptian intelligence services broker a cease fire after one week of cross border fighting between Israel and Hamas last November.

The loss of the backing could make Hamas more volatile and prone to lashing out against Israel after enforcing a ceasefire for six months, said analysts.

Many Palestinians who believed that the Brotherhood's rule in Egypt gave Hamas a boost in its rivalry against Fatah in the West Bank now wonder whether the six-year split between the two Palestinian factions is any closer to resolution.

"Hamas was under the impression that the…Arab Spring was playing to their favor, and that the region is coming gradually under the control of Islamists, and that time was on their side,'' said Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian government spokesman. "This atmosphere didn't live for long.''