Israeli media is reporting that an Egyptian court has ruled that the political wing of Hamas is a terrorist organization. According to a Times of Israel report:
“IRO, Egypt — A month after an Egyptian court ruled that Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was a terror organization, the group’s political wing was given the same designation.
Since Egypt’s military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, the authorities have accused Hamas of aiding jihadists who have waged a string of deadly attacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula.
Hamas slammed the decision calling it a ‘stain on Egypt’s reputation.’
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the ruling has turned the Palestinian people into the enemy of Egypt and Israel, its friend. He accused the Egyptian court of trying to blame outside forces for the internal unrest.
Last week, state-run newspaper al-Ahram accused Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood of conspiring to overthrow the Egyptian regime within the next few years.
Read the rest here,
The Islamist publication Middle East Monitor has carried Hamas’s reaction to the Egyptian terrorist designation. According to the Middle East Monitor, a Hamas spokesman called the ruling “shocking”:
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, denounced as “shocking” on Saturday an Egyptian court decision to designate the group as a “terrorist organisation”. This, spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Anadolu, is a “dangerous” decision which represents a “shift” in Egypt-Palestine relations.
“Unfortunately, the situation has been turned upside down,” said Abu Zuhri. “Israel the enemy has become a friend of Egypt while Hamas – which is an integral part of the Palestinian people – has become a terrorist.” Nevertheless, he insisted that Hamas will not be affected by the court’s decision.” “It has been made,” he said, “to export Egypt’s domestic problems.”
Early last month, the GMBDW reported on the Egyptian court ruling tha banned the military wing of Hamas and listed it as a terrorist organization.
The Hamas charter says that it is “one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine”
For a profile of Hamas, go here.