Israel held its breath for many hours on Saturday after Hamas decided to delay the return of hostages to Israel, claiming that Israel had violated the ceasefire agreement reached through the mediation of Qatar. The ones who intervened in the story in the middle of the crisis were the Egyptians, who sent intelligence officers to the Gaza Strip in order to put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.
In order to understand what Egypt's interest is, and how it can act against Hamas in order to fully realize the deal, Maariv spoke with Dr. Shay Har-Zvi, head of the international arena and the Middle East at the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS) at Reichman University.
"Egypt has considerable leverage on Hamas since Egypt is the only exit gate and land connection to the Gaza Strip that is not Israel," explains Har-Zvi. "They want to show that they have a key role and show that they are a productive and leading player in the region, and in this way get much more prestige. 'These little ones can't be given a locomotive to lead', the Egyptians tell themselves. Egypt understands that what is happening in Gaza, and certainly the day after [the war], gives it prominence."
Qatar knows how to 'talk to everyone'
Referring to Qatar's interest, Har-Zvi emphasized that "Qatar is a country that has positioned itself in recent years as one that knows how to talk to everyone. The best example of this is from the last few weeks - the agreement between the Americans and the Iranians to release prisoners for $6 billion that were frozen. In other words, Qatar positions itself as a key player, and on the other hand, it has also been very successful in improving relations with the United States."
Har-Zvi stated that "on Qatar's territory is located the largest American military base in the region with 11,000 soldiers and a very substantial improvement in relations between it and the US is evident. In addition, it mediates with Iran and also wants to protect Hamas with billions in aid with Israeli approval. Qatar looks after and also hosts Hamas's top officials, so there is a kind of double interest here."