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Is Sinai Exhausting the Egyptian Army or Besieging the Muslim Brotherhood?
(Al Arabiya) Abdulrahman al-Rashed - Egyptian defense minister and commander of the armed forces Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has mobilized the biggest number of troops the Sinai Peninsula has witnessed since the war in 1973. One of the factors that led to Egypt's losing control over Sinai during the Mubarak era is that he overlooked Hamas' smuggling operations and the digging of tunnels. Hamas has now seen Egyptian troops advance quickly in the Sinai and succeed in destroying tunnels. As a result, Hamas has stopped criticizing the current Egyptian government and ordered its leaders not to criticize Sisi and not to call what happened in Egypt a "coup." It even warned mosque preachers not to criticize Sisi or support the Brotherhood in public. Hamas' retreat from supporting the Brotherhood in Egypt, Sisi's adoption of an "iron fist" policy when confronting armed groups in Sinai, and the Brotherhood's failure to attain huge support from the Egyptians or from foreign parties are all factors that make the battle of governing Egypt proceed in one path.