BICOM

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has accused  Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction of fabricating stories over Hamas interference in Egypt, in the wake of Mohammed Morsi’s ouster.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood faction is a close historical and ideological ally of Hamas, which violently removed Abbas’ Fatah faction from the Gaza Strip in 2007. Despite various initiatives since then, attempts to reconcile the two Palestinian factions have so far proved fruitless. Hamas had enthusiastically welcomed the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power a year ago, hailing the arrival of an ally on the Gaza border. Meanwhile, Abbas praised Egypt’s military for “preserving the unity of Egypt” by removing Morsi from power.

Unrest has persisted in Egypt during the past few weeks with violence and tension between Egypt’s military rulers and Morsi’s supporters. Egypt’s military suspects that Hamas is directly aiding significant unrest in Sinai, which has killed at least a dozen Egyptian soldiers and policemen. Egypt’s army has closed numerous smuggling tunnels linking Sinai to the Gaza Strip. In addition, prominent among the official charges that were brought against Mohammed Morsi is the offence of conspiring with Hamas. According to Al-Monitor, Hamas has accused its rival Fatah of falsely fuelling such claims. Hamas says that Abbas visited Egypt last week in order to blame Hamas for violence in Sinai. Apparently, Hamas claims to have uncovered documents in possession of a detained Fatah intelligence officer, which included details of a committee tasked with spreading false stories of Hamas involvement in Sinai. Fatah has denied the accusations.

Meanwhile, Abbas is reported to have made an unexpected visit to Saudi Arabia to hold talks with King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz. This came after a meeting of the Fatah Central Committee to discuss the upcoming peace talks with Israel. No explanation was given for Abbas’ trip to Saudi Arabia.