CAIRO -- An Egyptian court declared Hamas a "terrorist organization" on Saturday, further isolating the blockaded rulers of the Gaza Strip once openly welcomed by the country's toppled Islamist-dominated government.
The move underlines Egypt's increasing hostility to Hamas, which the court blamed for violence in the country's restive Sinai Peninsula. The group, founded in Gaza in 1987 as an offshoot of the region's Egyptian-originated Muslim Brotherhood, faces a growing cash crunch and has yet to lay out a strategy to extract Gaza from its increasingly dire situation.
The ruling Saturday by Judge Mohamed el-Sayed of the Court for Urgent Matters said Hamas had targeted both civilians and security forces inside the Sinai Peninsula and that the group aimed to harm the country. Sinai has been under increasing attack by extremists since the Egyptian military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.
"It has been proven without any doubt that the movement has committed acts of sabotage, assassinations and the killing of innocent civilians and members of the armed forces and police in Egypt," the court wrote, according to state news agency MENA.
The ruling said that Hamas' fighters had used heavy weapons against the army and that the group was colluding with the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has described as the root of extremism. Morsi belonged to the Brotherhood.
"It has been also ascertained with documents that [Hamas] has carried out bombings that have taken lives and destroyed institutions and targeted civilians and the armed forces personnel," the ruling said. "This movement works for the interests of the terrorist Brotherhood organization."
On its official website, Hamas called the decision a "shocking and dangerous" one that targeted the Palestinian people.
"This decision is a great shame and sullies the reputation of Egypt. It is a desperate attempt to export the internal Egyptian crisis and will have no effect on the position of Hamas which enjoys the respect of all the people and leaders of the nation," the statement read.
In Gaza, Hamas official Mushir al-Masri condemned the decision and urged Egypt to reverse course.
"This ruling serves the Israeli occupation. It's a politicized decision that constitutes the beginning of Egypt evading its role toward the Palestinian cause," he said. "This is a coup against history and an Egyptian abuse of the Palestinian cause and resistance, which fights on behalf of the Arab nation. We call on Egypt to reconsider this dangerous decision."
Meanwhile in a separate decision Saturday, an Egyptian court sentenced five leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood group to life in prison over violence at its headquarters in 2013 and issued death sentences for four others.
The case stems from clashes in a Cairo suburb June 30, 2013, four days before Morsi's ouster, that killed 11 people and wounded 91. The men faced charges including murder and possessing firearms. The verdict can be appealed.
Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie and his deputy, Khairat al-Shater, were among those sentenced to life, along with former lawmaker Mohammed el-Beltagy and party head Saad el-Katatni and his deputy, Essam el-Erian. Nine others also received life in prison. Badie already has been sentenced to death in another case.
Inside the defendants' cage, the men held up four fingers in a gesture symbolizing their opposition to the military-backed government. Newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reported that Badie shouted at one point: "Down with all military judges ... down with el-Sissi."
Some 22,000 people have been arrested since Morsi's ouster, including most of the Brotherhood's leaders, as well as non-Islamist activists swept up by police during protests.
Morsi faces four ongoing trials on charges that include organizing jailbreaks, conspiring with foreign powers and inciting the killing of protesters, for which he could face the death penalty. He was Egypt's first democratically elected leader, but his turbulent one-year rule left the country sharply divided.
Also Saturday, another court sentenced 168 people to two years in prison each over violence at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo in 2012. The violence was sparked by anger over a film denigrating the Prophet Muhammad made by an Egyptian in the United States.
Information for this article was contributed by Karin Laub, Mohammed Daraghmeh, Maamoun Youssef and staff members of The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/01/2015