Egypt Court Overturns Decision To Ban Hamas

Egypt’s Emergency State Security Court on Monday overturned an earlier decision to list Hamas as a terrorist organization, a Ma’an reporter in Cairo said.

The court ruled that determining whether or not Hamas is a terror group does not fall under the court’s jurisdiction.

The same court had decided in March 2014 to ban Hamas activities in Egypt and ordered the movement’s assets to be seized.

At the time, Egyptian lawyer Samir Sabri filed a lawsuit against Hamas, saying it was behind attacks in the Sinai Peninsula and that Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal had planned them.

Egyptian news site Aswat Musriya had reported in December that a Cairo-based court was to rule on Jan. 17 as to whether or not to list Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, as a terror group.

Hamas has denied any involvement in any attacks in Egypt, as has the Muslim Brotherhood, which was also blacklisted by Egypt as a terror group in 2014.

Most of the attacks in the restive Sinai Peninsula have been claimed by Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, a militant group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.