An Egyptian court banned Hamas’ armed military wing and listed it as a terrorist organization. The group is an offshoot of the Obama supported Muslim Brotherhood.
Haaretz reported:
An Egyptian court on Saturday banned Hamas’ armed wing and listed it as a terrorist organization.
Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood which the authorities have also declared a terrorist group and have repressed systematically since the army ousted one of its leaders, Mohammed Morsi, from the presidency in 2013.
“The court ruled to ban the Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and to list it as a terrorist group,” said the judge of the special Cairo court which deals with urgent cases.
The case was based on allegations that the armed wing staged terrorist attacks to support the Brotherhood, and carried out a bombing and shooting operation which killed 33 security personnel in the Sinai Peninsula in October of 2014.
In response, Hamas condemned the court’s decision, calling it a dangerous political decision which serves Israel’s interests. Hamas stressed that they object to any attempt to point a “blaming finger at Hamas and its military arm for alleged interference in Egypt’s internal affairs.”
A source close to Hamas’ armed wing signalled on Saturday the group would no longer accept Cairo as a broker between it and Israel, after the move.
“After the court’s decision Egypt is no longer a mediator in Palestinian-Israeli matters,” the source told Reuters. Cairo has played a key role in brokering ceasefires between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip numerous times.
Egyptian officials say weapons are smuggled from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip into Egypt, where they end up with militant groups fighting to topple the Western-backed Cairo government.
The Obama State Department held meetings with Muslim Brotherhood leaders to strategize how to rid Egypt of its pro-Christian President Abdel-Fatteh el Sisi.
One member of the delegation, a Brotherhood-aligned judge in Egypt, posed for a picture while at Foggy Bottom.
