Cairo: Egypt’s strained ties with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is impeding efforts to broker a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip targeted by a deadly Israeli onslaught, analysts have said.

“Like its parent group [the Muslim brotherhood], Hamas gives precedence to its interests over the Palestinian national interests,” Emad Jad, an expert at the state-run Al Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies, said.

Hamas, which rules Gaza, this week rejected an Egyptian proposal for a truce in the impoverished Palestinian enclave. The proposal, accepted by the Israelis, calls for an immediate ceasefire between the Israelis and Palestinian factions, easing the blockade of Gaza and starting separate talks in Cairo between both sides for a comprehensive ceasefire agreement.

Hamas, an affiliate of Egypt’s banned Muslim Brotherhood, conditions its approval of a ceasefire on opening all crossings between Israel and Gaza, permanent operation of the Egyptian border crossing of Rafah and release of Palestinian prisoners freed under a 2011 swap deal who were recently re-arrested by the Israeli occupation.

“Hamas seeks to portray itself as a resistance group against Israeli occupation and wants to embarrass the Egyptian government by pressuring it to permanently open the Rafah crossing,” said Jad. “But it (Hamas’) tactics have not duped Egyptians as we have not seen mass protests in Egypt demanding the opening of the crossing. Hamas has rejected the Egyptian initiative under pressure from its allies Qatar and Turkey.”

Egyptian-Hamas relations have been frayed since July last year when the army toppled Mohammad Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egyptian media has repeatedly accused Hamas of involvement in deadly attacks that have since targeted Egyptian security forces. The Palestinian group has denied the charges.

Qatar and Turkey are staunch backers of the Brotherhood, which insists on Mursi being restored to power. Ex-army chief Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, the architect of Mursi’s ouster, became Egypt’s president last month.

“Hamas deliberately thwarts Egyptian efforts,” said ex-Egyptian foreign minister Mohammad Al Urabi. “It does not want Cairo to play the mediator even if the innocent Palestinians’ blood is being shed,” he told independent newspaper Al Youm Al Saba.

The ongoing Israeli bombardments Gaza, which have killed more than 200 people in 10 days, have shattered a truce between Tel Aviv and Hamas brokered by Egypt in November 2012, when Mursi was in office.

Egypt has intensified efforts in the past few days for de-escalation in Gaza following criticism that it was allegedly dragging its feet because of its tense relations with Hamas.

A top-level Israeli delegation left Cairo on Thursday following talks with Egyptian officials on prospects for a ceasefire. Middle East peace envoy, Tony Blair, visited Cairo twice in less than a week and announced backing for the Egyptian truce proposal.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said his government pursues “intense contacts” with Hamas and other Palestinian groups to accept the Egyptian blueprint.

However, some prominent Egyptian political personalities have criticised Cairo’s reaction to the Israeli attacks on Gaza. “The Palestinian cause is central to Egypt’s national security and this should not be linked to any political differences with Hamas,” a group of liberal and leftist forces said at a pro-Gaza rally held late on Wednesday in Cairo.

They called the Egyptian proposal for a Gaza truce “inadequate”, demanding that Cairo facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gazans through the Rafah crossing, which is the Palestinian enclave’s only outlet to the outside world.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Israelis in 1979.