Middle East: Egyptian Court Bans Hamas, Classify Them As 'Terror Organisation'

by Benson Agoha

An Egyptian court has ordered a halt to activities of the Islamist group Hamas in the country.

Media reports say, the court sitting in Cairo, as branded Hamas as a terror organisation and ordered a halt to all its activities in Egypt. "The court also ordered Hamas offices in the country shut down, and all dealings with the group suspended", Times of Israel reported.

According to the Israeli Newspaper, Egypt’s interim leaders said Hamas plays a "key role in the insurgency by militants in the northern region of the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Hamas-ruled Gaza and Israel."

Expectedly Izzat Rishq, senior Hamas official in Gaza condemned the ruling as a “political decision” directed against the Palestinian people and their resistance.

"Tuesday’s ruling by the Court of Urgent Matters was the result of a case brought before the court by an Egyptian lawyer seeking a verdict branding Hamas a terrorist organization and suspending any dealings with it. The ruling did not directly declare the group a terrorist organization," ToI said but added that Hamas blasted the move as ”an attempt to besiege the resistance,” as it “serves the Israeli occupation.”

Samir Sabry, the lawyer who filed the case, reportedly said the ruling meant that any Hamas member currently in Egypt has now lost any legal cover for his stay and should be arrested. Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, addressing a previously scheduled news conference, said he was not aware of the ruling, but added: “anybody who take any actions that have implications on our security, are of concern to us,” he said when asked about when asked about Egyptian-Hamas relations “if you don’t take actions, we will treat you as Palestinian nationals.”
But Hamas, already classified as a terror organisation by Israel, the United States, Canada, the European Union and Japan insist that a recent discussion of the appeal alleyed with the Israeli occupation.

Hamas posted a message on its website saying “Classifying Hamas as a terror organization is a Zionist classification,” adding “The tendency of some to adopt such a classification expresses an alliance with the occupation and support of it … what is expected of our nation is to support the Palestinian resistance, not try it,” ToI said.

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