Who is boss in the Middle East? Battle between Qatar, Egypt reaches boiling point

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." READ MORE