Middle East Eye published an exclusive report that indicated the anger of the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine towards the Egyptian intelligence services because of the role played by Cairo, the last hours, before the Israeli attack on Gaza.
This British website reported that 4 hours before the start of the bombing of the Gaza Strip on Friday, Egyptian mediators told Islamic Jihad that Israel was not seeking escalation, and would respond "positively" to the request to release two members of the movement.
Al-Jihad was reportedly told that an Israeli cabinet meeting scheduled for Sunday will announce that this represents a breakthrough in the negotiations.
The confirmations were conveyed to a prominent member of the political bureau of the "Islamic Jihad" through the Egyptian mediator, Brigadier General Ahmed Abdel-Khaleq, on Friday noon, local time, 4:20 hours before the first Israeli air raid on the Gaza Strip, according to sources close to the movement.
"Islamic Jihad believes that they were betrayed by the Egyptians and that they were part of the game to make them feel comfortable and safe before the air strikes," a senior Palestinian source close to the movement told the site.
He added, "There is a lot of anger and tension within the Islamic Jihad movement because of the Egyptian mediation role, because they believe that the Egyptians gave them misleading information and hints just before the air strikes. As a result of this information, the movement felt comfortable and was not prepared for the air strikes."
A senior Palestinian source close to the movement told Al-Monitor, “Islamic Jihad believes that they were betrayed by the Egyptians and that they were part of the game to make them feel comfortable and safe before the airstrikes took place.”
Sources close to Islamic Jihad said that Abdel-Khaleq incorrectly told Khaled al-Batsh, a prominent member of the movement's political bureau, that there had been a "breakthrough" in the indirect negotiations.
Israeli intelligence agents reportedly sent the following message to the Israeli press wing via Egyptian intelligence: "We want to end this escalation. Give us until Sunday as we urge (Israel's political leaders) to agree."
It is noteworthy that tensions escalated early last week when Israeli forces arrested Bassam al-Saadi, a senior Islamic Jihad leader in the occupied West Bank, following an Israeli raid in Jenin, during which a Palestinian teenager was killed.
Middle East Eye pointed out that in an attempt to mend relations with the Islamic Jihad movement in the wake of the Israeli attack, Cairo promised to send a "large delegation" to Israel to secure the release of the prisoner Khalil Al-Awawda.
A source close to the movement said, "Islamic Jihad threatens to return to escalation if there is no progress."
On the other hand, the British website asked the Egyptian embassy in London and the Israeli army for comment, but it did not receive a response until the time of publishing this report.