Egypt detained Hamas deputy religious affairs official Hassan Asseify at the Cairo Airport Monday dawn after security issues were found in his entrance papers, Reuters reported Tuesday.
Asseify was on his way back from Saudi Arabia to Palestine when Cairo Airport security detained him.
Security sources at the airport told Reuters that he is to remain in detention until the papers’ issues are resolved.
The incident came a day after Egypt reopened Rafah border crossing Monday after two-month closure.
The border is to be opened for four days; some 20,000 Palestinians have applied to cross, according to Associated Press Monday.
In June, Former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and 16 others, including Former Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badei, were sentenced to life in prison over spying with Hamas Movement and members from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to “destabilize Egypt’s security.”
In a way to improve the relations between Egypt and Hamas, the Cairo Court annulled an earlier court ruling that listed the Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organization inJune.
On Feb. 28, the Court ruled in favor of deeming Hamas a terrorist organization over its “role in attacks on Egyptian soil,” as alleged by lawyer Samir Sabry.
The decision followed a series of coordinated terrorist attacks on several military institutions in Sinai in January, leaving at least 31 dead, including two civilians, according to health officials.
Sabry accused the group of “executing terrorist attacks in Egypt and using tunnels between to smuggle arms, with the aim of terrorizing people and targeting military and police institutions.”
