Hamas welcomes Egyptian court appeal of ‘terrorist’ designation

Egypt’s State Lawsuits Authority filed an appeal earlier on Wednesday with Cairo’s Court for Urgent Matters to review the latter’s designation of the Hamas Movement as a terrorist organisation.

Hamas for its part welcomed the decision and called the original ruling, which was announced on 28 February, a “major mistake”.

“This move is a step in the right direction and a political admission by the authorities in Egypt that the ruling was a major mistake and should be rectified,” said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

“We hope to see the appeal accepted so that the ruling’s implications are reversed,” he added, reaffirming that the movement did not interfere in the domestic affairs of any Arab country, including Egypt.

According to an Egyptian judicial source that spoke to AFP at the time of the ruling, the decision to brand Hamas as terrorists came after two complaints were filed against the movement, implicating it in attacks against the police and the army in the Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt has accused Hamas of carrying out attacks in the Sinai via the tunnels linking the Gaza Strip across the Egyptian border. The army has embarked on fortifying a barrier wall on the Rafah border, as well as destroying most of the tunnels, which many in the blockaded Gaza Strip view as a lifeline.

At the time of the ruling, Hamas described the court’s decision as shocking and dangerous, in addition to targeting the Palestinian people and the resistance force.

"The decision is a big shame spoiling the reputation of Egypt, a desperate attempt to export Egypt's internal crises," it said.

In January, an Egyptian court declared Hamas’ armed wing - the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigade - a terrorist organisation.

Relations between Egypt and Hamas deteriorated remarkably following the overthrow by the Egyptian army of President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

In a statement, Hamas welcomed any effort from the Egyptian government to revoke the ruling, saying that it contradicts Egypt’s historical role regarding its nationalist principles.

“Hamas is one of the important pillars of the Palestinian national project and the Qassam Brigades are the most prominent resistance group against the Israeli occupation,” the statement said. “It will always have its gun trained towards the occupation and will not change its direction from that."

“We have always reiterated our strong relationship with Egypt and the Egyptian people historically, politically, religiously, but some malicious parties always sought to systematically discredit the Palestinian people and the resistance, and poisoned the atmosphere and pushed the court mentioned to commit a big mistake regarding the resistance.”

Hamas has indicated that it has recently received positive signals from the Egyptian side, and that the court's decision does not represent the government's position and has no effect on the ground.

It also called on the Egyptian side to stop the media campaigns that target the Palestinian people and its armed wing.

The Court for Urgent Matters set 28 March as the date to hear the appeal.