Support, Doubts, and Concerns By Hossam Badrawi

“Support, Doubts, and Concerns”
By Hossam Badrawi
Translated by Chat GPT

I cannot prevent myself from supporting Hamas in its sudden war with Israel. It is a support that stems from a lump in the throat due to the injustice that has befallen the Palestinian people throughout modern history and the loss of their rights, which has left an impression on generations in the East and the West that Israel’s occupation of their lands and its humiliating treatment of them is an undeniable reality that turns their uprising against the occupier into a terrorist act in the eyes of the West.
But at the same time, we have become accustomed to the fact that Palestinians and Arabs fight their enemy until the last Egyptian soldier, as if Egypt bears all the responsibility and everyone else is a mere spectator. This battle that surprised me may be the first of its kind, burdening its apparent participants with its implications.
The question is: How can we support and stand in solidarity with them? It is not an easy matter; it requires research. Emotions and sympathy alone are not enough. We must consider the risks and international obligations.
The next question: Will Egypt ultimately bear the burdens of this battle? This question puzzles me, and I have doubts about the objectives of Hamas’ extensive attack and the number of Israeli casualties, including civilians. I do not trust Hamas’ leadership, their intentions, or their innocent-sounding sub-agreements with Egypt.
Any rational person understands that despite our support for Palestinian resistance, there are those who will bear the consequences of this extensive action, which Israel considers a state of war.
Certainly, there will be a severe and violent military response from the heavily armed Israeli military machine, and there will be justification in the eyes of the biased Western world.
Where will this response be directed? Logically, it will be towards Gaza and its inhabitants, which may create pressure for them to flee beyond the borders, towards Egypt. We will face a terrifying situation with a million or more Palestinians on our borders. We cannot refuse to receive them, and we have no means to prevent them except through force, which would put Egypt in a very difficult and delicate position.
The Sinai Peninsula could be filled with a million or more people fleeing from Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which may be one of the main objectives of this sudden war, to put Egypt in such a position.
This has been one of Israel’s and the West’s objectives for a while: to make northern Sinai an alternative homeland for Palestinians. Attempts have been ongoing, and this time the circumstances of the fighting may force it, giving Israel a manufactured right to strike Gaza and displace its residents to another place, as usual, with Egypt bearing the responsibility.
I have doubts, and Egypt must have a strategy to confront this. I do not trust Hamas, and I know their ideological affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood. Our experience on January 25th showed that they were one of the instruments used to ignite chaos in Egypt. It is not right for us to fall into the trap of dividing Sinai, which has always been a shared Hamas-Israeli objective, along with creating chaos in Egypt.
I do not exclude the possibility that financial support offers will pour in from Arab countries to accommodate the displaced and create a new situation that may be difficult to get rid of.
My concern has its reasons. The study of the Egyptian victory in October was not just military; it was also diplomatic and negotiation-oriented after creating a new situation through the crossing and penetration of our forces in Bar Lev.
Wars create a situation that is followed by negotiations, and my fear and concern are that Egypt will pay the price in the end.
How do we support Palestinian resistance, a suppressed people, while their leadership harbors nothing but harm for Egypt? And how do we protect Sinai at the same time?

We need to think and prepare.