The Egyptians are outraged that Hamas politburo head Ismail Haniyeh attended the funeral of former commander of Iran's Quds Force Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Monday. Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike early Friday morning.
Not only did Haniyeh attend the funeral, he also eulogized the late military leader. Speaking in Tehran, Haniyeh said, "We have arrived to condole Supreme Leader [Ali] Khamenei and the Islamic Republic over the death of Soleimani."
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Haniyeh emphasized that "the project of Palestinian resistance will not weaken and will not go backward. The assassinations give us more strength to liberate Jerusalem. Qassem Soleimani devoted his life to resistance, and he is a shahid [martyr] of Jerusalem."
According to a high-ranking official in Egypt's intelligence apparatus, Haniyeh has been told in no uncertain terms, both by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, that both countries objected to his participation in the funeral ceremony. However, Haniyeh appears to have ignored the messages.
The Egyptian official also stressed that Cairo had allowed Haniyeh to leave the Gaza Strip via Egypt for a round of international visits based on Haniyeh's promise that his tour would skip Tehran and would not include any meetings with the Iranian leadership.
However, Haniyeh failed to live up to his commitments, and some of his associates sent messages back to Cairo and Riyadh informing those governments that Haniyeh had traveled to Tehran because Soleimani's funeral was a "special event" that demanded the presence of Hamas' political leader.
"Haniyeh's arrival in Tehran, and his attending the funeral and his words in Soleimani's memory – in which he called [Soleimani] the greatest supporter of the Palestinian resistance and the Palestinian struggle for national recognition – was a disgrace and nothing less than a shameful attack on Egypt's national honor," the official said.
The official went on to attack Haniyeh's conduct and stress that "Haniyeh and Hamas have chosen to side with Iran while blatantly ignoring the unmistakable messages from Cairo and other Sunni Arab nations. Qassem Soleimani is responsible for the murder of thousands of Sunni Muslims, including many Palestinians."
