Egypt court designates Ezzedine Qassam Brigades as ‘terrorist’ group
A court in Egypt has banned the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, designating it as a “terrorist” group.
Unnamed judicial officials said on Saturday that the Cairo Court of Urgent Matters claimed in a lawsuit that the group was involved in recent attacks against Egypt’s security forces.
Following the ouster of Egypt’s former president, Mohamed Morsi, in July 2013, relations between the Egyptian government and Hamas, which governs the besieged Gaza Strip, have strained.
Egypt has also stepped up destruction of cross-border tunnels into Gaza since then.
More than 1,600 tunnels have been demolished since the military-backed government came to power in Cairo last year.
In early January, Egyptian army sources said the military has begun operations to increase the size of the existing 500-meter buffer zone along the border with Gaza to a full kilometer.
The sources added that the army operations would include the destruction of some 1,220 houses and the eviction of residents in the border area.
The Cairo authorities decided to create the buffer zone after deadly attacks in the restive Sinai Peninsula that targeted more than 30 Egyptian soldiers on October 24, 2014.
The underground routes are the only lifeline for the people of Gaza living under the Israeli blockade. Palestinians use the tunnels to bring essential supplies, such as foodstuff, cooking gas, medicines, petrol, and livestock, into the impoverished Palestinian territory.
MR/HSN/SS
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