Egyptians increasingly critical of Hamas Blame Palestinian militant group

CAIRO — The Palestinian militant group Hamas is losing support among Egyptians, who increasingly are criticizing its role in the violence plaguing the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Once friendly toward Gaza’s ruling regime, Egypt has become wary of Hamas militants in the tumultuous year since the Egyptian military overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood-led administration of President Mohammed Morsi.

Amira Seif El-Din, a 45-year-old housewife, said she is fed up with militants harming ordinary people to gain traction politically or spread dangerous ideologies that don’t represent Islam.

“Everybody in this region has paid [a] high price because of the spread of terrorism and extremism,” she said. “The problem is very deep.”
Samir Ghattas, director of the Middle East Forum for Strategic Studies, an Egyptian think tank, said that perspective is common in Egypt. Although the vast majority of Egyptians dislike Israel and sympathize with the Palestinians, they think Hamas is provoking the violence.


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