Egypt labels Hamas as a terrorist organisation

01 March 2015

Cairo relations with Palestinian group set to worsen

An Egyptian court has declared that the Palestinian group Hamas is a terrorist organisation.

The ruling was made on 28 February and is seen as part of a wider clampdown on Islamist groups.

Egypt listed the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is a branch, as a terrorist group in late 2013.

The brotherhood backed the previous Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi, who was ousted by the military in July 2013.

Egypt had previously ruled that the armed entity of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, was terrorist group in January, but this latest ruling broadens that ruling to the whole group.

Hamas has responded saying the court decision is “dangerous”.

It will inevitably cause greater friction between Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip on Egypt’s border, and Cairo.

Egypt has played a major role in brokering ceasefire agreements between Israel and Hamas in the recent years.

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