Egypt refuses Hamas’ request for Haniyeh to travel

Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh during a conference in Gaza held to protest against the Manama Workshop on 26 June 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Egypt has rejected a request by Hamas to allow the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, to travel to a number of countries including Iran, Turkey, Qatar and Russia.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported Egyptian sources as saying that after postponing its response, Cairo finally rejected it saying that regional and security conditions do not allow for Haniyeh to travel.

The news site quoted a Hamas source as saying: “It is clear that Egypt completely object to Haniyeh’s foreign tour, in protest against the countries which he will visit.”

The source pointed out that Hamas has decided that Mousa Abu Marzouk will head the movement’s delegation to Moscow next week to discuss the Palestinian reconciliation file among other issues.

The source added that the visit has been postponed more than once in the hope that Egypt would allow Haniyeh to travel.

READ: Egypt delays Gaza talks ‘until further notice’

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