Egypt court brands Hamas a terrorist group

[JURIST] A Cairo court ruled on Tuesday that the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is a terrorist organization and banned all activities by the group in Egypt. The ruling was based on connections between Hamas, the Islamist ruling party of Palestine, with the Muslim Brotherhood, a similar Egyptian organization from which it split in the 1980s that was also branded a terrorist organization and banned in September. Egyptian authorities have accused Hamas of interfering in Egyptian affairs since the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and aiding jihadist insurgents in the Sinai peninsula. Hamas has condemned the ruling, claiming that it is a "political decision" that "reflects a form of standing against Palestinian resistance."

The Cairo Criminal Court convicted 26 people in February of forming a terrorist group with the intent to attack the Suez Canal. Two days earlier, Egypt's Prosecutor General referred 504 members of the Muslim Brotherhood for a mass trial for their alleged crimes in the Day of Rage conflict. Earlier in February, deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi appeared in court, but his trial was adjourned after the judge refused to remove the soundproof glass enclosure that Morsi was seated in. Egypt's Interim President Adly Mansour announced in January that Egypt will hold presidential elections before conducting parliamentary elections.