Egyptian court lists Palestinian Hamas movement as terror group

An Egyptian court on Saturday designated the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas as terrorist organization, Egyptian state TV reported.

The Cairo Court of Urgent Matters made the ruling after an Egyptian lawyer filed a lawsuit last November, calling for banning Hamas and classifying it as a terror organization.

The lawsuit argued that Hamas, an offshoot of Egypt's blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood group, used illegal underground tunnels connecting Egyptian Rafah to its twin Palestinian towns to enter the country and smuggle weapons to attack Egyptian police and army personnel.

The lawsuit added that Hamas armed men are also accused of carrying out terrorist attacks and killing over 30 people in late October 2014 as well as carrying out an armed jailbreak to free Brotherhood members during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

On Jan. 31, the same court listed al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas as a terrorist organization, a decision coming days after a series of bloody attacks occurred in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula and killed at least 33 soldiers and policemen.

In March 2014, the court ordered to ban all activities and offices of Hamas in Egypt, considering the Palestinian movement an offshoot of the Brotherhood.

Since the ouster of former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013, Egyptian authorities have been cracking down on Islamist militant groups based in the Sinai Peninsula, of which some are accused of having links with the Hamas movement.

Islamist militants killed hundreds of security personnel in Sinai, especially in the northern district, which shares a border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Being a close ally to Morsi and his group, Hamas is not in good terms with the current Egyptian military-oriented leadership. Endit