Hamas 'transgressions' result in Rafah border crossing closing off to vehicles, commodities

CAIRO - 3 November 2020: Rafah border crossing has been closed off to vehicles and commodities owing to "transgressions by Hamas, according to a Monday statement.

 

Since sunday, the crossing has only been open to individuals who want to go to Gaza Strip, and will continue that way until Thursday morning.

 

The transgressions have not been revealed, but the Islamist group, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, has a history of working against Egypt. The list below shows some of Hamas' past transgressions:

 

1 - Hamas profits from food and commodities subsidized by Egypt for the low-income Palestinians, as well as other commodities subsidized for Egyptians by trafficking them throught illegal tunnels.

 

2 - Hamas is involved in the murder of 16 Egyptian soldiers in Rafah in August 2012. Ayman Nawfal, leader of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, is one of the defendants in the case.

 

3 - Trading the Egyptian pound in exchange of the U.s. dollar, which damages the Egyptian economy.

 

4 - Hamas stormed the Egyptian borders in 2008 and committed various crimes, and interfers in the Egyptian internal affairs through its its close relations with the Muslim Brotherhood. It also stormed Egyptian prisons in 2011, including Natrun Prison, and set convicted terrorists on the loose. 

 

5 - Hamas Purposely perpetrated acts that jeoprodized the independence of Egypt and the integrity of its territory coinciding with the January 25 Revolution in 2011.

 

6 - Hamas is accused of killing protesters in Tahrir Square in 2011, where Mohamed Hamed Mahmoud Salam, a Palestinian and member of Hamas, in possession of Molotov cocktails inside Tahrir Square.

 

7 - Hamas bombed gas lines in Sinai several times, and is involved in targeting military sites in Sinai.

 

8 - Hamas hid Islamist leader Mumtaz Daghmash, who is involved in abducting Egyptian officers.

 

9 - Six Palestinians from Hamas entered Egypt after coming from Iran with forged passports, but they were arrested with graphs of military sites.

 

10 - Israel's Shabak claimed it foiled an attempt to transfer materials from Gaza to Sinai to manufacture missiles for Hamas.