(AFP File Photo)
The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters designated Hamas, the ruling authority in the Gaza Strip, as a “terrorist organisation” on Saturday.
The decision was based on two lawsuits filed by lawyers Samir Sabry and Ashraf Said Ibrahim against Hamas, despite the group participating in the Egyptian-brokered Palestinian-Israeli agreement last summer. The two lawyers maintain that the group is responsible for a number of killings of Egyptian security forces personnel.
Hamas representatives came to Cairo in August during talks aimed at securing a ceasefire between Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and Israel. The conflict had left approximately 2,000 people dead. 1,417 of those killed in Gaza were civilians.
Further, a top European Union court removed the Palestinian movement from its official list of terrorist organisations in December.
Relations between Egypt and Hamas have deteriorated since Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi’s ouster in June 2013. Morsi is currently standing trial on charges of espionage for Hamas. He has also been accused of escaping from Wadi El-Natrun Prison on 28 January, 2011, during the first days of the 25 January Revolution, with the help of foreigners, including members of Hamas.
In March 2014, an Egyptian court banned the activities of Hamas inside Egypt, and confiscated the group’s offices.
The Cairo Court of Urgent Matters has already designated the Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas movement’s military wing, as a “terrorist group” on 31 January. The group was accused of “participating in terrorist operations” and recent violence in North Sinai.
In December 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood was also dubbed as a terrorist organisation.
