Egypt allows senior Hamas leader to travel to Qatar for surgery

GAZA CITY – Senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq left Cairo on Friday for Doha, where he is set to receive medical treatment, group spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said on Friday.

Abu Marzouq is due to undergo surgery in the Qatari capital, Abu Zuhri told the Anadolu Agency, giving no further details.

While Doha currently plays host to a number of senior Hamas members, including group leaders Khaled Meshaal and Ezzat al-Rashq, it will be Abu Marzouq's first visit to the Qatari capital.

Despite tensions between Hamas and Egypt, Abu Marzouq was allowed by the latter to cross the border into Cairo to receive medical treatment.

Sources had told AA earlier that doctors in Gaza had advised Abu Marzouq to undergo open-heart surgery outside the poorly-equipped coastal enclave.

Abu Marzouq used to live in Damascus before the eruption of Syria's popular uprising in 2011, after which he lived in Cairo for three years before moving to Gaza in 2014.