The outcome of the recent war in Gaza has enhanced Hamas' political fortunes. The group had already been on an upward trajectory since the beginning of the Arab Spring, especially after Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi assumed the Egyptian presidency. The most telling sign of Hamas' new confidence is Meshaal's visit to Gaza. It was the leader's first visit to any Palestinian territory since he left the West Bank after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, and it was his first ever visit to Gaza. The Egyptian government under former President Hosni Mubarak opposed such a visit because it saw the Palestinian Islamist movement as a threat to its national security; Israel, of course, did not allow Meshaal to visit the territories and actually tried to assassinate him in Jordan in 1997.