According to a top PIJ source, the Egyptians gave Jihad a sense of "calmness" before the start of the Israeli bombings.
According to the report, before the start of the operation, the Egyptians informed PIJ that Israel was not looking for an escalation, and it would respond "positively" to release the PIJ members from prison. The Egyptians also said that there will be a meeting of the Israeli government to discuss the issue.
The source stated that these assurances were given to the PIJ by Egyptian intelligence general Abdelkhalek. In Jihad they claim that Egypt sent deliberately false reassuring messages.