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Hamas outraged by Egyptian Court Ruling

Rami Al-Magheiri/The Media Line

The Islamist Hamas party in Gaza is outraged over a recent Egyptian court’s ruling that defined the party as “’terrorist’ and an “illegal organization”. The ruling comes a few weeks after the same court branded Hamas’s military wing the Izz-al-Din Al-Qassem Brigades a terrorist group and deepens the rift between Egypt and Hamas.

The Egyptian court decided that Hamas is a terrorist organization, following a petition, submitted by two local Egyptian lawyers, who earlier accused Hamas of involvement in terrorist attacks in the nearby Egyptian Sinai peninsula.

The court’s verdict comes on top of a long series of accusations by local Egyptian media outlets that Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, has been behind a series of attacks that have killed dozens of Egyptian soldiers since August 2012.

“The court’s decision is quite dangerous and only serves the interests of the Zionist entity (Israel),” Yehya Alabdsa, a local leading figure of Hamas told The Media Line. “The Zionists are surely happy for such a ruling and I believe that they now consider the leader of the coup in Egypt, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as a national hero.”

Alabadsa believed that though the ruling is “quite dangerous”, Egypt’s military will not take any action against Hamas. He said Hamas’ main enemy remains Israel, after last summer’s fighting between the two left at least 2100 Palestinians dead, along with 72 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

“Our enemy remains the Zionist occupation and once the Zionists attempt to attack us, we will point our guns against the Zionists, themselves,” he said. “I do believe that the Egyptian society, cannot be misled by the court ruling and that the people there understand that our party is a national Palestinian movement that is only dedicated for the liberation of Palestine.”

A leading imam in Gaza, Younis Alastal, of the Gaza-based Association of Muslim Scholars, says the ruling actually shows the strength of Hamas.
“The recent court’s ruling has provided a free advertising campaign on behalf of Hamas, as those who have not yet learned about the party, will start learning about it,” he told The Media Line. “Whatever repercussions could emerge out of such a ruling, Hamas will win. It does mean that the party is a strong one that is feared even by nearby Egypt. How could a tiny coastal enclave pose a threat to a great country, like Egypt?”

He also said that Egypt has not provided any evidence that Hamas has been involved in hostile attacks across Egypt.

“I believe that the ruling would fuel tension in Egypt as many in Egypt love Hamas, for Hamas is working on behalf of the whole nation”, he said.

Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, and under Egypt’s former President Mohamed Morsi, ties were close. Morsi was deposed in 2013 and is currently on trial.

Gaza-based political analyst, Naji Shurrab, believes that the court’s ruling, will have an impact on the political scene, in the region.

“The ruling will encourage Israel to further isolate the Islamist Hamas party, by possibly carrying out another attack against Gaza, like it did in last summer. Yet, I would rather believe that Israel will exploit the ruling against Hamas in international courts, like the European or the International Court of Justice”, Shurrab told The Media Line.

At the same time, he said, neither Hamas nor Egypt are interested in a military confrontation, and the ruling will have little practical significance.

Ibrahim Abrash, another political analyst in Gaza, told The Media Line that Palestinian parties such as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) must intervene.

“If Hamas cannot assign lawyers in Egypt, to appeal against the court’s ruling, then I think the Palestine Liberation Organization, should do that on behalf of Hamas,” he told The Media Line. “I believe the ruling might lead some Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE, which are connected closely with Egypt, to start dealing with the Islamist Hamas, quite differently.”