Quite suddenly, the Middle East has given birth to another rabidly Islamist state. That state is the Gaza Strip, now ruled entirely by the terrorist organization Hamas. In terms of radicalism, it is right up there with Iran.

Hamas is underwritten by Iran, and the Gaza takeover showed what a valuable investment it is. Perhaps never before did Hamas serve so directly as an instrument of Iranian foreign policy: Its success in the Gaza Strip was a greater victory for Iran than for itself. At least one report showed that Iran in fact directed the takeover—in spite of resistance from some influential and less-radical factions within Hamas.

What was Iran’s motive? “The battle in Gaza was something more than a local struggle for power between rival Palestinian factions,” Iranian-born journalist Amir Taheri stated. “It was dictated by [Iranian] strategic imperative that could affect the broader region as the Islamic Republic and the United States intensify their rivalry over who sets the agenda for the future of the Middle East” (New York Post, June 20).

Specifically, the Gaza takeover gave an important psychological boost to the forces of radicalism that Iran seeks to lead, and provided a beachhead from which to penetrate not only Israel, but also Egypt.

Dr. George Friedman points out that the Arabs in Gaza, unlike those in the West Bank, have historically “been oriented toward the Egyptians, who occupied the region until 1967” (Stratfor.com, June 19). While the Egyptian government created the Palestine Liberation Organization, the dissident Muslim Brotherhood helped influence Hamas’s creation in 1987. These historical and spiritual ties give Brotherhood members cause to rejoice over Hamas victories. “[T]he strategic consequence of an independent, Islamist Gaza is that it can act both as a symbol and as a catalyst for change in Egypt,” Friedman wrote.

This is the last thing the Jews need. Egypt, historically the pillar nation in the region, is one of Israel’s only neighbors with which it has a functional peace agreement. But the winds of revolution are picking up over Cairo. Popular resistance to the Mubarak presidency is growing, and the radical Muslim Brotherhood is gaining public support and political clout. Hamas’s victory could energize these destabilizing trends.

Even the Egyptian press is noising concern over the possibility of a Hamas-style coup in its country. One Egyptian columnist, Tariq Hasan, reported on Muslim Brotherhood representatives in parliament accusing the Mubarak government of waving “the Zionist flag, despite the people’s opposition to this. This means that [in their view] Egypt, like the Palestinian Authority, deserves that a revolution should take place in it” (memri, June 28). Several Egyptian columnists speak of Hamas and the Brotherhood in the same breath.

Surprisingly, Israeli military intelligence contends that even the Egyptian government has been lending support to Hamas for some time. World Tribune (June 25) cited officials who said Cairo was permitting Hamas leaders into the Sinai Peninsula from Gaza—including a delegation that Egyptian security forces escorted to the airport in Cairo for a trip to Damascus.

Reports also show the beginnings of some links between the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran. Given the similarity in their ultimate goals, we should expect these ties to expand in the time ahead.

Biblical prophecy suggests a strong link between Iran and Egypt in our day, and thus the Trumpet has been monitoring Egypt for some years for signs of a dramatic turn toward Iran’s radical orientation.

Daniel 11 reveals a soon-coming war between “the king of the south,” a radical Islamist power led by Iran, and “the king of the north,” a European superpower led by Germany. Verses 40-41 describe the Islamist power pushing against the European power, and the European power then coming “against him like a whirlwind.” Verse 42 reads: “He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.” This scripture indicates that it is Iran and Egypt that the king of the north is going to knock out. This strongly indicates that Egypt will change radically in the time just ahead. The king of the north is going to view it as a big enough threat to eliminate in order secure its own interests. The picture in biblical prophecy is of Egypt playing a significant role in a soon-coming Iranian-orchestrated attack on Jerusalem.

The recent success of Hamas in the territory abutting Egypt’s northern border is certain to enflame the radical elements within Egyptian society and increase their level of cooperation. This could hasten a change in the government, likely after the death of the aging Mubarak—we have speculated that this might actually come through assassination—and lead to greater cooperation with the extremist leaders in Iran.

You can read the scriptural explanation bolstering that forecast in our free booklet The King of the South.