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Have Egypt-Hamas relations reached point of no return?
[al-Monitor] Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,-Egypt relations are hanging by a thread amid the instability and tension between them, which some fear could result in a complete severing of ties.The latest flare ignited Aug. 22 when Al Jazeera broadcast a photo of Hamas members who had been kidnapped a year ago by unknown gunnies in the Sinai Peninsula after passing through the Rafah crossing. Hamas said the men -- Yasser Zanoun, Hussein al-Zabda, Abdullah Abu al-Jabin and Abdel Dayem Abu Labda -- were traveling to ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... to seek medical treatment or to pursue their studies. Egypt claimed the men were members of Hamas' military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and were on their way to Iran for military training. The photo shows two of the four men locked up, along with many others, at the headquarters of the Egyptian State Security Intelligence. In the photo, all the men were shown in their underwear and seemed to be in a miserable state. Some of them were emaciated. Al Jazeera would not reveal the source of the photo, although Huffington Post Arabi cited its own anonymous source as saying the photo is a still from prison camera footage that Paleostinian leaders obtained a few months ago "through intermediaries." It appears the photo was leaked to Hamas, which eventually allowed Al Jazeera to publish it, perhaps in an effort to reignite the abduction issue because of pressure from families to get their sons released. Al Jazeera released the photo just days after dozens of Paleostinians participated in an Aug. 18 protest in front of the Red Thingy headquarters in Gazoo to demand that Egypt reveal the fate of the four men. There has been no word since their abduction. The day before the photo was broadcast, Abu Obeida, front man for al-Qassam Brigades, announced the brigades have been following up on the case and making constant efforts to bring the men back. Mohammad Abu Labda, a member of the Popular Assembly for Solidarity with the Paleostinians Kidnapped in Egypt, expressed that group's frustration with the lack of progress. "A year after the abduction of our four youths while on their way to the Egyptian territories, we are still living on the hope that they are fine. We have asked Egypt to take action quickly to reveal their fate," he told Al-Monitor. Abu Labda is an uncle of one of the kidnapped men, Abdel Dayem Abu Labda. Hamas front man and leader Salah Bardawil told Al-Monitor the young men had been kidnapped "in front of the Egyptian authorities in the security zone of the checkpoints of the Rafah crossing." "Therefore, Egypt is held accountable, and it should reveal their detention place. But, so far, it has refused to disclose any information about their whereabouts and their fate," he added. Hamas sources told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, "Egypt is putting tough conditions on Hamas in return for revealing the fate of the kidnapped men. Egypt wants Hamas to cooperate with it to control the security situation in Sinai, but Hamas has repeatedly refused this demand because it does not want to meddle with the affairs of any Arab state, mainly Egypt." Posted by: Fred 2016-09-01 |
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