Al Zahar: Hamas aspires for good ties with Egypt

A leading member of Palestinian faction Hamas said Sunday that his movement looks forward to building a good relationship with the Egyptian regime “regardless of its political orientation.”

“Hamas is looking forward to fostering good, stable relations with the Egyptian regime regardless of its political orientation,” senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said in a seminar in Gaza City.

“Hamas doesn’t have the luxury of choice,” al-Zahar said, adding that the movement is currently waiting for an appeal against an Egyptian court verdict that designated the movement as a “terrorist organization.”

An Egyptian court has set March 28 for the first hearing of the appeal filed the State Lawsuits Authority, the Egyptian government’s legal arm.

Last month, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters designated Hamas a “terrorist” group over claims that it had carried out attacks in Egypt via tunnels linking the Sinai Peninsula to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

One year ago, the same Egyptian court outlawed Hamas’ activities in Egypt and seized the group’s Cairo offices.

A Egyptian court likewise declared the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, a “terrorist” organisation in January.

Al-Zahar also reiterated that his movement doesn’t interfere in the internal affairs of Egypt, adding that he doesn’t expect the Egyptian army to wage a military strike on Gaza.

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

A number of Hamas members have been among the defendants in two trials that Morsi – a Muslim Brotherhood leader – currently faces for alleged espionage and jailbreak.

Egypt’s media blames Hamas, an ideological offshoot of Morsi’s Brotherhood, for a series of deadly attacks on security forces that have occurred since Morsi’s ouster. Hamas has consistently denied the allegations.