Egypt accused of 'deceiving' Hamas

London-based newspaper quotes sources who say Egyptian intelligence minister deliberately misled Palestinian organization about IDF intentions; Hamas sources say this is why movement's compounds were not evacuated

Zionist PIG Mubarack

Egypt "collaborated" with Israel in its Gaza attack and lulled Hamas into thinking the Israel Defense Forces would not attack Gaza, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi reported Sunday.

The report, based on Arab diplomatic sources, claims that Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman told a number of Arab leaders that Israel was intending to attack the Gaza Strip in a limited manner in order to pressure the Palestinian organization into agreeing to a renewed ceasefire.

According to the paper, Hamas was given a different message The sources quoted in the article asserted that Suleiman had told Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, during her Thursday visit to Cairo, that it was important to avoid civilian casualties during an military operation in Gaza, in order to avoid inciting the Arab public.

Hamas sources close to former Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar told the paper that Egypt told Hamas on Friday evening that Israel had agreed to begin negotiations about a potential ceasefire and would not attack Gaza before Cairo had attempted to settle the issue.

These sources noted that, in general, Hamas' internal ministry orders the evacuation of its security compounds following any Israeli threat of operative action. They had not done so this time based on Egypt's assurance that Israel wouldn't attack and based on the assumption that an IDF attack would not be launched on Saturday. More