(Ynet News) Roee Nahmias - Cairo has decided to cut all contact with heads of the Hamas movement, both in the Palestinian territories and abroad, the Egyptian newspaper al-Mesryoon reported Monday. According to a senior official, the decision was in response to "the organized media campaign that Hamas officials are waging against Egyptian figures, by defaming them in Arab satellite television stations and in Arab media." The tension between Hamas and Egypt is rooted in Egypt's refusal to open the Rafah crossing to Gaza, its construction of a steel fence on the Gaza border, and its war against smuggling tunnels. Last Wednesday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accused Egypt of torturing 30 Palestinian detainees in its custody. Last week, a Palestinian fisherman was killed when his boat collided with an Egyptian naval vessel in Egypt's territorial waters. Gazans said Egyptian sailors beat the fisherman to death.
2010-05-18 07:59:49Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive