Over the last three years, even when Mohammed Morsi was president, Egyptian media outlets have carried out an unprecedented campaign against Hamas. Egyptian hostility toward the movement has grown since July 2014, when many Egyptians held Hamas responsible for the bloodshed in Gaza after Israeli military strikes against the Strip. 

The Egyptian media have linked Hamas to several crimes: the storming of Egyptian prisons; killing protesters in Tahrir Square during the January 25 Revolution; the bombings at Karam al-Kawadis military base in November 2014 and in El-Arish in January 2015. The media have also linked the movement to various crises in Egypt, such as the gasoline and diesel fuel shortages and the power outages, prompting media personality Ahmed Moussa to call for Egyptian forces to strike Hamas camps in Gaza on his TV show “Ala Mas’ouliyati.”

Egyptian lawyers Samir Sabri and Ashraf Saeed filed a lawsuit against Hamas, teaming up with the State Litigation Authority, which legally represents the Egyptian state, demanding that Egypt consider the group a terrorist organization, in light of its involvement in the aforementioned terrorist acts on Egyptian territory. In February 2015, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters ruled in favor of deeming the movement a terrorist organization.

Yet the Egyptian government surprised everyone in March 2015 by defending Hamas and challenging the court's ruling. This change of heart was due to the significant damage caused by the decision to Egyptian foreign policy. Egyptians were in a state of astonishment and wonder regarding the contradictory opinions of the Egyptian government.