Egypt sends back 100 Gaza Hajj pilgrims

Ma'an reports:

Egyptian authorities on Wednesday forced over 100 Palestinian pilgrims to return to Gaza after having entered the country to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage.

Egyptian security officials said that the 100 or so pilgrims had entered Egypt via the Rafah land crossing and were forced to return to the Gaza Strip for security reasons, without providing further details.

Egyptian director of the Rafah terminal, Sami Mitwali, told Ma'an that around 680 Palestinian Hajj pilgrims have entered Egypt via Rafah.

In 2007, under Mubarak, Egypt allowed terrorists to go on Hajj, over Israeli protests - but gave them a hard time before allowing them back into Gaza. There were reports that Hamas members went to Iran for terrorist training and cash after the pilgrimage.

In 2008, Hamas itself banned Fatah members from going.

In 2010, Egypt banned Hamas leaders from going on Hajj.

There is a lot of history there about how Egypt and Hamas have used Hajj for political purposes, rather than it just being the purely religious experience they pretend it is.