Massive march in Gaza protesting Egypt’s court ruling against Hamas

Thousands of Palestinians on Saturday evening went on a march in the Gaza Strip in protest at an Egyptian court verdict classifying the Hamas Movement as a terrorist organization.

The participants carried Hamas green flags and banners condemning the Egyptian court ruling on Hamas. Addressing the massive rally in Jabaliya refugee camp, senior Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said the verdict that was issued by the court of urgent matters in Cairo against the Movement was a coup against Egypt’s historical role and described it as “politicized.”

“The Hamas Movement and the Palestinian resistance have stood in the face of Israel’s dream of having a state from the Nile inside Egypt to the Euphrates inside Iraq, and today such shameful decision has emerged,” Masri deplored. “We wish to see Egypt secure and safe, and we challenge that anyone from Hamas is involved in any political or military role in interfering in Egypt’s affairs,” he emphasized.

For his part, senior Hamas official Yousuf Farhat said, during the rally, that Hamas takes its legitimacy from its struggle and sacrifices, and not from Egyptian courts. “Being provoked by such unjust and politicized decision, thousands of Palestinian masses have taken to the streets to send a message to those who may concern that their Movement gains its legitimacy from the blood of its martyrs and leaders that flowed throughout Palestine,” Farhat stressed.

He condemned the Egyptian court decision as “weak” and a “disgrace” to its makers, affirming that it would not affect the popularity of Hamas inside and outside Palestine. The court for urgent matters in Cairo on Saturday issued a verdict classifying Hamas as a terrorist organization. The same court had made a similar ruling on January 31 against its armed wing al-Qassam Brigades.