The Palestinian cause has always been of constant concern to Egyptians and has occupied a central place in the mind and conscience of every Egyptian, as it is the foremost Arab cause. Throughout its long history, preceding the 1948 Nakba and continuing until today, Egypt has made various sacrifices in support of its Palestinian brothers and sisters and in defense of Egyptian national security.

Egypt has stood with the Palestinians at many points in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and has never shirked its responsibility to champion a just cause in the face of a settler occupation planted by Western hands and under American protection.

Egypt has fought wars, its people have offered thousands of martyrs, and spent billions, without ever considering severing its ties, which some have described as"organic," with Palestine. Cairo was the first to support the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), when it was declared under the auspices of the Arab League on May 28, 1964, as an umbrella organization representing the Palestinian people and seeking to restore their national rights. Similarly, Egypt supported the Fatah movement, which was officially established on January 1, 1965, and enjoyed the support and patronage of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who died trying to prevent the Black September disaster and stop the fighting between the Jordanian army and armed Palestinian elements, in one of the most unforgettable moments in history. This strong connection between Egypt and Palestine did not end with the passing of Abdel Nasser, but rather continues to this day. While the relationship with our Palestinian brothers witnessed periods of tension and friction during the reigns of Presidents Sadat and Mubarak, this never hindered support for the Palestinian cause in various forums. It is only natural, then, that Egypt has stood by its brothers since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

Humanitarian aid trucks headed from Egyptian villages to Gaza, and a simple fruit vendor in the town of Hawamdiya threw his oranges at them, a symbolic display of the love of Egyptians, from all walks of life, for their Palestinian brothers and their constant readiness to help them. At the same time, aid flowed from official institutions, most notably the Egyptian Red Crescent, to the Rafah crossing, seeking to alleviate the suffering of the Strip's residents in light of the deliberate Israeli closure of the crossing on the Palestinian side.

Therefore, the Egyptians did not accept the positions of some Palestinians who chose to side with the Muslim Brotherhood, renounced Egypt's contributions, and went so far as to besiege Egyptian embassies abroad and demonstrate in front of the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv, in an absurd scene denounced by everyone. Some Palestinians have taken shelter under the Israeli flag to attack Egypt, instead of denouncing Netanyahu and his gang of extreme right-wing Zionists! The Muslim Brotherhood has raised its voices demanding the opening of the Rafah crossing to aid trucks, even though they know that the core of the problem lies on the other side. It wasn't until days later that the government media office in Gaza, affiliated with Hamas, admitted that the Israeli occupation had prevented the entry of more than 22,000 trucks of aid stacked at the crossings.

So, it's not Egypt that is preventing the flow of aid to the starving people of Gaza. Those who went out to besiege the Egyptian embassies should have turned their compass to their real enemy, instead of engaging in political intrigues that harmed their cause and caused the loss of sympathy among a large segment of Egyptians, at a time when UN reports indicate that the food situation in the Strip has reached a catastrophic stage and is approaching the specter of famine.

Some of the Brotherhood from the Arabs of 1948 committed a folly, as did their counterparts in a number of capitals, especially in Europe, but the organic connection between Egypt and Palestine should not be affected by these lapses, and it is not right for all Palestinians to be burdened with the burden of a specific faction. Hamas is not the entire Palestinian people, and the Palestinian people are not the Muslim Brotherhood. Therefore, we must be careful not to confuse the cards in the heat of anger, and to avoid losing sight of the real enemy lurking on the border.