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Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/4/99862/Opinion/-On-Egypt-and-Hamas.aspx
On Egypt and Hamas
(Al-Ahram-Egypt) Hicham Mourad - The Palestinian question has suffered most from the popular uprisings that still shake the central states of the Arab political system, Egypt and Syria. Absorbed by its difficult political transition, the government of Cairo, as with Damascus, stuck in an endless civil war, is unable to provide the traditional political attention to the Palestinian cause. Cairo remains the main support and mentor of the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, who also enjoys the support of Saudi Arabia and Western states. Syria, by contrast, alongside Iran and Qatar, supported the Islamist Hamas, the rival of the Palestinian Authority. In the current regional situation, Hamas has lost two main allies: the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, after the dismissal of Mohamed Morsi in July, and the regime of Damascus, which broke with Hamas following its support for the armed opposition seeking to overthrow Assad. Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, is now in the crosshairs of the interim regime in Cairo, which is waging a war without mercy against the Brotherhood, accused of terrorism. Hamas is accused of collusion with the Brotherhood and of providing them assistance in their use of violence. According to a senior Egyptian security official, Egypt cannot get rid of the terrorism of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt without ending it in neighboring Gaza.