Demonstrators gather for a rally outside the Egyptian embassy headquarters in Libya's capital Tripoli on July 26, 2025. Photo: AFP.
Cairo | A wave of anger is rippling through Egypt’s political and intelligence circles following a recent statement by Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, which coincided with protests outside Egyptian embassies in several countries. According to sources speaking to Al-Akhbar, Cairo accuses the Muslim Brotherhood of orchestrating these protests to undermine Egypt’s role in Gaza.
In a speech last Sunday, al-Hayya said that “there is no point in continuing negotiations under conditions of extermination, starvation, and siege targeting our children, women, and people in Gaza. He stressed that “immediate and dignified entry of food and humanitarian aid” is the true test of whether negotiations are meaningful, rejecting what he called the exploitation of Palestinian suffering as leverage to advance the Israeli entity’s political aims.
Addressing the Egyptian people directly, Al-Hayya said: “O our people and brothers in Egypt, your political and social standing is known to us, and we know you feel the pain of your brothers in Gaza. O people of Egypt, its leaders, army tribes, Azhar, and churches, will your brothers in Gaza die of hunger at your borders? We look confidently to great Egypt to make its decisive stance clear: Gaza will not starve, and Rafah’s crossing will not remain closed.” According to sources, Egyptian authorities viewed this as a direct rebuke.
In response, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in a televised speech on Monday, appealed to the international community, including the EU, US, and regional Arab states, saying that Egypt is exerting maximum effort to end the war and ensure the delivery of aid. He added, in what he described as his “personal assessment,” that Donald Trump is “the one capable of stopping the war, facilitating aid, and ending this suffering”.
Ex-Captive ‘Raped by Israeli Trainer’: I Felt Safer While I Was Held by Hamas
Al-Sisi affirmed that “many aid trucks are ready to cross through Rafah”, noting that “Egypt will not prevent them,” but “the crossing must be opened from the Palestinian side”. He framed his remarks as a direct response to accusations circulating in the media and a reaffirmation of Egypt’s longstanding “positive stances.”
The backlash was not limited to Egypt. Jordanian officials were also reportedly angered by al-Hayya’s appeal to the Jordanian public, in which he said: “We turn to you with hope and fraternity. Just as your sons were martyred on the borders of Palestine, we ask you to intensify your efforts to stop this brutal extermination and prevent the enemy from dividing al-Aqsa or imposing an alternative homeland.” According to the sources, “this latest episode of anger has brought together states that had previously disagreed on their approach to Hamas”, namely the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt. They added that al-Hayya’s remarks were met with swift, high-level diplomatic contacts aimed at rejecting any attempt to blame Arab states for the siege or for the deadlock in negotiations.
A senior Egyptian foreign ministry official told Al-Akhbar that al-Hayya’s statements may have been driven by the need to ease internal pressure on Hamas amid the deepening humanitarian crisis. Still, the official said, “the tone and manner in which they were delivered were entirely unacceptable to Cairo.” The official reiterated Egypt’s categorical rejection of assuming full responsibility for Gaza if a ceasefire is reached, insisting that any future arrangements, whether regarding Rafah or Gaza’s postwar administration, must involve a shared framework with the international community.
