Egypt's Al Ahram slams Hamas

Egypt's Al Ahram newspaper published a withering attack on Hamas today.

The deaths caused by members of the [Hamas] Qassam Brigades arrested in clashes with the Egyptian army in Sinai confirms unequivocally that Hamas and its leaders' claims not to interfere in the affairs of Egypt are false; the marches organized by Hamas in Gaza's streets features the yellow logo of the Fourth Square [where Egyptian MB members were killed]...

Hamas is pushing globally accusations that the Egyptian authorities shut down the Rafah crossing as collective punishment on the Palestinians in Gaza, saying it is against international law, yet they do not mention one sentence about their responsibility of the occupation of Gaza.

Egyptian authorities confirm that the closure of the crossing is due to security requirements, and to preserve Egyptian national security from those who abuse it, and it is a temporary condition and the crossing is open from time to time for humanitarian cases and for those stranded on both sides, students and patients.

As long as Hamas insists on its positions and its interference in the affairs of Egypt, there are no signs of a solution for the return of the Rafah crossing to work normally, and Hamas has to recognize that this policy has caused severe damage to the interests of the Palestinian people. The goal of political power should always be to provide all the demands of everyday life of the people and preserve their rights and to defend them, but Hamas instead use all residents of Gaza to be fuel for its policies of sectarianism.

Hamas is aware that there are treaties governing the work of international border crossings, which places obligations between sovereign states under international law. Agreements signed between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli side for the PA to manage the crossing is what bothers Hamas and makes a joke of their positions...

When President Mahmoud Abbas intervened with the Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing for humanitarian cases and students who want to attend their universities, and patients who need treatment, Egypt responded by opening the crossing. The Palestinian ambassador in Cairo Barakat al-Farra working in coordination with the Egyptian authorities at the Rafah crossng arranged the logistics. Hamas' reaction was amazing as it banned the students from crossing, and even assaulted and arrested some of them under the pretext that their coordination was with the Palestinian embassy in Cairo! This action confirms that Hamas does not really want to solve the problem of the crossing and return it to normal, but it wants to keep it closed to be used in order to continue its assault on the Egyptian authorities for political purposes, The policy of Hamas aims only to increase the suffering of the Palestinian citizens and the continued blockade in Gaza; if Hamas was really serious in opening the crossing they would have been welcomed a move initiated by President Mahmoud Abbas that by Egyptian authorities responded to them.

Hamas is trying to twist the issue of the crossing to achieve political goals. They are presenting it to the world as a humanitarian issue and using language such as saying that Egypt is imprisoning an entire people, including students and pilgrims, and preventing patients from treatment and broadcasting videos of specific cases as a crime committed by Egypt...

Funny how these complaints about Hamas sound so familiar...