Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar In Coordinated Campaign Against Egyptian Regime: Helping Gaza Is Jihad And A Religious Duty; The 'Blood-Spilling Al-Sisi Regime' Must Fall

Memri

6 days ago

Amid the stalemate in the ceasefire talks with Israel, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) movement, along with their patron Qatar, have been waging an orchestrated campaign against the Egyptian regime, which is threatening its stability. This axis is using the narrative of "the systematic starving of the Gazans" – another campaign it is promoting – to place direct blame on Egypt and its president, Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi, for the crisis in Gaza. It thereby presents Egypt, which mediates between Israel and Hamas and which refuses to fully open its side of the Rafah border crossing, as directly complicit in harming the Palestinians.
As part of this effort Khalil Al-Hayya, a member of Hamas's political bureau in Gaza and the head of its team for the indirect negotiations with Israel, called on the people of Jordan and Egypt, in a speech that was aired in full on Al-Jazeera, 'to break the siege on Gaza' and to storm the border with Palestine.[1] Directly addressing the Egyptian people, leaders, armed forces and tribes, he added: '[Can it be that] your brothers in Gaza are dying of hunger [right] on your border, close to you?!… The great Egypt must speak out boldly [and say]: 'Gaza will not starve. [Egypt] will not let the [Israeli] enemy leave the crossing closed while the people of Gaza are in need…'[2]
A major partner in this intimidation campaign against the Egyptian regime is the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), sponsored and funded by Qatar and Turkey,[3] which are also the patrons of the MB, Hamas's parent organization. The leaders of the IUMS have long been inciting against Egypt. As part of their present campaign against it, they have issued statements and religious rulings stipulating that aiding Gaza is a religious duty and part of jihad, and that any leader withholding aid from Gaza will be held accountable by Allah. President Al-Sisi was even described as 'an enemy of Allah' whose regime must be overthrown. Moreover, the heads of the IUMS pressed the Sheikh of Al-Azhar – the leading religious institution in the Sunni Muslim world, which is based in Cairo – to call for the opening of the Rafah crossing in contravention of the Egyptian regime's position. Shortly afterward Al-Azhar indeed issued a statement that implicitly blamed the Arab world, and possibly also the Egyptian regime, for the situation in Gaza, but soon removed it, presumably under pressure from the regime.
The Egyptian regime itself rejected the pressure from Hamas and its allies, accusing them of 'spreading lies.' However, it allowed the Egyptian media to serve as a platform for a harsh attacks against them.
It should be noted that this campaign is similar in its methods to previous incitement campaigns waged by Hamas and its allies against Arab regimes that have normalized relations with Israel. These campaigns included attempts to destabilize these regimes by encouraging protests against them and by directly calling on their citizens to wage jihad against Israel from their own countries.[4]
It should also be mentioned that the relations between Egypt and Qatar have known considerable tension, and were even severed for several years, mainly due to Qatar's support of the MB, which is designated as a terror organization in Egypt.[5] The tension between the two countries flared up recently following reports in Israel that Qatar had allegedly paid close advisors of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to spread negative messaging about Egypt in the media.[6]
This report reviews the campaign waged by Hamas, the IUMS, Qatar and elements identified with the MB against the Egyptian regime, as well as responses in Egypt to this campaign.
Cartoon in Qatari daily: The Gazan child "goes to sleep hungry because the Arab armies are slumbering" (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, July 31, 2025)
IUMS, Supported And Funded By Qatar And Turkey: It's Time For Jihad And Self-Sacrifice; Egypt Must Open The Rafah Crossing
Following Hamas's July 19, 2025 call for worldwide protests against what it terms the systematic starving of the Gazans,[7] Hamas, the MB, and the IUMS launched a campaign urging Muslims to wage jihad on Gaza's behalf and proclaiming it a religious duty to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza. For example, on July 20, IUMS chairman Ali Al-Qaradaghi called on the Islamic governments and on all Muslims who can do so to wage 'comprehensive jihad, with their possessions, lives, words and stances,' in order to save the people of Gaza.[8] In a July 28 post on his X account he reiterated the call for 'comprehensive jihad' and added, 'The time has come.'[9]
Al-Qaradaghi's X post calling for 'comprehensive jihad'
On July 22 the IUMS's Fatwa Committee issued a religious ruling stating that 'countries and leaders who neglect [helping Gaza] will be accountable to Allah' and that 'this shari'a obligation… is part of jihad.' A separate clause in the ruling focused on Egypt, calling on it to 'open the crossings' and describing this as a religious duty.[10] Another IUMS member, Shu'aib Al-Hussein Al-Nadawi, likewise called on religious clerics around the world to pressure the Egyptian government to allow the delivery of aid through the Rafah crossing.[11]
A statement issued by the London branch of the MB stressed that 'the duty of jihad is incumbent not only on the people of Gaza but on all their close neighbors.' Criticizing Egypt, it added that the 'Zionist expansion would not have been possible were it not for the shameful impotence and the closing of the crossings.'[12]
IUMS Incites Head Of Al-Azhar Against Al-Sisi Regime
IUMS officials – including the union's secretary-general Ali Al-Salabi and deputy chairman Ahmad Al-Khalili, who also serves as the Mufti of Oman – as well as the IUMS Fatwa Committee, urged Ahmad Al-Tayeb, the Sheikh of the Cairo-based Al-Azhar – the leading religious institution in the Sunni Muslim world that provides religious backing to the Al-Sisi regime – to issue a religious ruling obligating Egypt to open the Rafah crossing and break the siege on Gaza, in contravention of the regime's policy.[13] On July 22 Al-Tayeb indeed responded to this call. He issued a harsh statement against Israel and all its supporters, and implicitly criticized the Arab states and possibly also the Egyptian regime by quoting an Arab proverb against turning one's back on one's allies.[14] The statement was removed from Al-Azhar's social media accounts shortly after its publication, presumably under pressure from the regime – which is concerned for its role as a mediator in the current negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza – and also in response to fury over the statement's implicit criticism of the Arab world. Responding to the removal of the statement, the IUMS published an open letter to Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayeb, signed by its chairman Al-Qaradaghi and secretary-general Al-Salabi, urging Al-Tayeb once more to issue a religious ruling advising the Egyptian regime to support and aid its 'neighbor that is under attack,' i.e., the Gaza Strip. Addressing Al-Tayeb and the Egyptians, the letter asked: 'What will Allah say about your failure and the failure of the Egyptian people to come to the aid of the weak?'[15]
Elements Identified With MB And Qatar Call For Overthrow Of Al-Sisi Regime
Alongside the statements obligating Egypt to wage jihad, the IUMS also launched a direct campaign against President Al-Sisi himself. IUMS member Wasfi Ashour Abu Zeid, who resides in Turkey, wrote on X that 'closing the crossings to Gaza is a crime and constitutes direct complicity in the murder of innocents,' and blamed 'the blood-spiller Al-Sisi.'[16] Moreover, social media users circulated remarks by IUMS member Al-Sadiq Al-Gharyani, who is affiliated with the MB and serves as Mufti of western Libya, in which he called Al-Sisi "an enemy of Allah" and his regime 'a Zionist product' and exhorted Muslims to 'overthrow the usurper and his tyrannical regime.'[17]
With the encouragement of MB-affiliated elements, protests were held in front of Egypt's representations across the world.[18] Some of these protests included harsh calls against the Egyptian president, such as 'There is no god but Allah and Al-Sisi is Allah's enemy,'[19] and "Al-Sisi is a traitor."[20]
Protest in front of the Egyptian ambassador's residence in London condemns the closing of the Rafah crossing (Image: Facebook.com/AbdullahELshrif, July 27, 2025)
The Qatari media, and especially Al-Jazeera, also joined the campaign against the Egyptian regime. Conspicuous in his pointed criticism of this regime was prominent Al-Jazeera presenter Jamal Rayyan, who wrote on X: 'Dozens of Gazans are dying of starvation every day. Do the Egyptians and their president not fear the punishment of Allah?' He added: 'History will record that the people of Gaza were collapsing from hunger in the streets while Egypt's President Al-Sisi prevented food from reaching them.' Rayyan also shared footage of former Egyptian president Muhammad Morsi, of the MB, pledging he would never abandon Gaza, and commented: 'Why were [the reins of government] handed to the one who abandoned Gaza?', hinting at Al-Sisi.[21] The Qatari government daily Al-Sharq published an article titled 'If Cairo Acts, Gaza Will Be Able to Breathe,' which called on Egypt to open the Rafah crossing and claimed that 'Egypt's centrality in the nation's consciousness' was being put to the test.[22] The London-based Qatari daily Al-Arabi Al-Jadid published an article titled 'Rage, Egypt!', by Palestinian journalist Ziad Barakat, a former Al-Jazeera employee, who wrote: 'We are entitled to expect Cairo to rage, to open the crossing, and to force Israel to lift the siege on Gaza and face a torrent of angry Egyptians streaming across the border.'[23] Another London-based Qatari daily, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, published an article by an Egyptian journalist stating that 'the hunger in Gaza threatens Al-Sisi's throne,' and holding Egypt responsible for the situation there.[24]
Egyptian Establishment Rejects The Criticism: Egypt Is Committed To The Palestinian Cause; The Accusations Should Be Directed At Israel
For many days, official Egypt refrained from responding to the campaign against it. The first official who eventually referred to it was Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who implicitly accused the MB of spreading lies and stressed that Israel is responsible for the situation in Gaza. He said: 'There are five crossings into Gaza. Why doesn't anyone speak about opening the Israeli crossings? Why do they focus on the Egyptian side? This is a transparent and deliberate attempt to harm Egypt, but Egypt's hands are clean when it comes to its Palestinian brothers…"[25]
Two days later, President Al-Sisi also rebuffed the criticism against Egypt. He said that 'it's important that people be familiar with [Egypt's] positive positions,' and added: 'On our side [of the border] there is a large amount of aid ready to enter the Strip… But sending it in requires coordination with the other side [i.e., Israel]… Our role is honorable, loyal and honest, and it will not change.' He urged the world and especially U.S. President Donald Trump to 'invest every effort in ending the war and bringing aid' into Gaza.[26]
Alongside these declarations, the Egyptian media launched a wide-ranging counterattack, which was directed mainly at the Hamas leadership, due to Hamas official Al-Hayya's inciting calls on the Egyptian people, army and tribes to break the siege on Gaza and storm the border with it. Senior journalist Dandrawy Al-Hawary addressed Hamas leaders "who live lives of luxury abroad and have obtained various citizenships for themselves and their children," and asked them, "What have you done for your people in Gaza other than chatter on social media, move between hotels in different capital cities, and then attack Egypt and accuse it of not assisting [Gaza]?" He added: "Why don't you return to your homeland, fight there and get a bitter taste of the hunger and the thirst you caused with your ill-considered and reckless October 7 [operation] against the Israelis, which you call the Al-Aqsa Flood[?]"[27] In a similar vein, journalist Hamdy Rizk, the former editor of the daily Al-Masri Al-Yawm, published a scathing article against Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya, while playing on his name, which means 'snake' in Arabic. He wrote: "When a snake is satiated it sleeps, but Khalil Al-Hayya woke up satiated, yawned, and [then] demanded, from his warm bed in voluntary exile, that [people] advance on the [Rafah] crossing. Al-Hayya and his ilk in the 'hotel resistance' do not represent the resistance on the ground… or the people in Gaza…"[28]
"No limit to the destruction" – cartoon on X account of Palestinian journalist Majdy Abd Al-Wahab, who wrote: "After destroying Gaza, Al-Hayya wants to destroy Egypt" (X.com/majdywahab, July 28, 2025)