Egypt at that time was under the de facto government of Ḥafṣ ibn al-Walīd, the former governor who had resigned at the accession of Marwān II.
According to Sāwīrus ibn al-Muqaffaʿ, he launched multiple attacks against the rebels from land and sea but failed to subdue them.
In an effort to break the stalemate, Ḥawthara seized the Coptic patriarch, Khaʾil I, held him hostage in Rashīd and threatened to kill him.
Ibn Hubayra rejected the advice and put Ḥawthara in charge of the vanguard ordering him to try to beat Qaḥṭaba to Kūfa.
On 28 August 749, a major battle was fought near Kūfa in which Qaḥṭaba was killed but the Umayyad army was forced to retreat.