Egypt is taking proactive steps in fighting Islamic terror within its borders, such as banning Hamas and sentencing terrorists.
An Egyptian court added Hamas to its list of designated terror organizations, judicial sources told Reuters on Saturday. The move was taken as part of a crackdown by Egyptian forces on Islamic terrorists.
This court decision follows a January ruling that declared Hamas’ armed wing a terrorist organization.
“The Egyptian court’s decision to list the Hamas movement as a terror organization is shocking and is dangerous, and it targets the Palestinian people and its factions of resistance,” Hamas said in a statement after the ruling. “It will have no influence on the Hamas movement.”
“After the court’s decision, Egypt is no longer a mediator in Palestinian-Israeli matters,” a Hamas source told Reuters.
Cairo served as mediator between Israel and Hamas for many years, including engineering a truce in August 2014 to end Operation Protective Edge.
A spokesman for the Egyptian government declined to say what actions the government would take to enforce the ruling.
“When a final judgment is issued, we will discuss this,” Hossam al-Qawish told Reuters.
Egypt Imprisons Muslim Brotherhood Leader
In a separate case earlier in the day, a court sentenced the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s top leader, Mohamed Badie, to life in prison, while other members received the death penalty, Reuters reports.
In December a court banned the Islamic State (ISIS) terror organization.
Egypt is reeling from a wave of Islamic terror. Scores of soldiers and civilians have been killed in past months.
Egypt accused Hamas of involvement in the smuggling of weapons through underground tunnels into the Sinai Peninsula and of actively attacking Egyptian military targets.
The Egyptian army launched a broad campaign to destroy the Hamas smuggling tunnels and to create a buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza, destroying hundreds of Palestinian homes in the process.
This latest court decision could harm Hamas financially and hinder its diplomatic efforts.
By: Aryeh Savir
Staff Writer, United with Israel
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