An Egyptian court ruled that Hamas is a terrorist organization, Reuters reported yesterday.

An Egyptian court listed the Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organization, judicial sources said on Saturday, part of a sustained crackdown on Islamists in the most populous Arab state. …

While a court ruled in January that Hamas’ armed wing was a terrorist organization, Saturday’s broader ruling against the entire group has potentially greater consequences for the already strained relationship between Cairo and Hamas, which dominates the Gaza Strip on Egypt’s border.

The verdict resulted from private suits filed against Hamas for its involvement in terrorist attacks inside Egypt.

The Egyptian court wrote in its verdict (Arabic link):

“It was certainly proved that Hamas committed on the land of Egypt acts of sabotage, assassinations and killing of innocent civilians and members of the armed forces and the police. Moreover, Hamas was involved in the bombing in the Egyptian town of El Arish in Sinai (last January), which claimed the lives of 25 soldiers.”

An Egyptian court suspended Hamas activities in Egypt in March 2014, deeming it a “sponsor of terrorism.” In January 2015, another court ruled that the Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades, a faction of Hamas, is a terror organization.

Relations between Hamas and Egypt have been strained since the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamad Morsi was deposed as president of Egypt on July 3, 2013, after a popular uprising demanded an end to his rule. Hamas was founded as the Gaza branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was declared in Egypt to be a terrorist organization at the end of 2013.

Investigations by Egyptian security agencies into terrorist events in Egypt over the past few months revealed Hamas’ participation in opening training centers in Gaza Strip for the benefit of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members, and providing them with weapons through smuggling tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border. Revelations of Hamas involvement raised the level of anger in Egypt towards the Islamic fundamentalist group, which Egypt sees as having abandoned its role as a representative of the Palestinians and instead allying itself with fundamentalist Islamists.

Al Jazeera published criticisms of the decision from Palestinian political figures. “The Egyptian court decision…is shocking, critical and targets the Palestinian people and Palestinian resistance forces,” said Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri. Mustafa Barghouti, identified as “an independent senior Palestinian official,” said that the verdict “is a very unwise decision that carries political complications.”

Arab observers believe that this judicial ruling will have very serious repercussions on Hamas, which currently suffers from isolation in the Arab arena, particularly in light of Hamas’s poor relations with Iran and Syria. Commentators believe that Hamas is now expected to promote its return to the Iranian alliance. At the same time, Hamas is also growing closer to Turkey, which embraces the global organization of the Muslim Brotherhood and has vocally backed Hamas.

[Photo: Hamas website]