Though there hasn’t been much analysis of the Egypt-Gaza border breach that I can find in the American media to this tune, I think one of the main takeaways is that Egypt wants nothing to do with aiding Hamas and Gaza when it impacts their economy:
The talk about economic separation from Israel is said to have enraged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who expressed fear that such a move would increase pressure on him to assume responsibility for the Gaza Strip.
The idea, which has been welcomed by Israel, was first floated by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh over the weekend.
In remarks published by the Hamas-affiliated Falasteen newspaper, Haniyeh said that “Gaza must maintain stronger economic links with Egypt as a way of economic disconnection from Israel.” He said Hamas was seeking to disconnect the Strip’s economy from Israel and receive food, fuel and electricity from Egypt.
For all of the criticism leveled by Arab countries toward Israel, this border breach is another indication that Egypt benefits from having Israel entangled with the Hamas-dominated territory.
Damn right. The perceived problem (Israeli occupation) is far from the reality (Syrian, Iranian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian opportunism), as usual.
True, especially since Israel doesn’t even govern Gaza.