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Seeking to secure Sinai, Egypt builds closer ties with Hamas
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS | Tue Feb 21, 2017 | 5:51am EST
Seeking to secure Sinai, Egypt builds closer ties with Hamas
By Lin Noueihed and Nidal al-Mughrabi | CAIRO/GAZA
After years of strained relations, Egypt is moving closer to Hamas in Gaza, offering concessions on trade and free movement in return for moves to secure the border against Islamic State fighters who have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in northern Sinai.
Egypt has been at odds with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, since a crackdown by Cairo on the armed group's Islamist allies. Egypt closed the border, opening it only rarely.
But in recent weeks Egypt has eased restrictions, allowing in trucks laden with food and other supplies, and providing relief from an Israeli blockade that has restricted the flow of goods into the coastal territory.
The relaxation follows high-level Hamas visits to Cairo, which wants to restore its role as a regional powerbroker and crush Islamic State followers in the Sinai Peninsula, a strategic area bordering Gaza, Israel and the Suez Canal.
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Seeking to secure Sinai, Egypt builds closer ties with Hamas
By Lin Noueihed and Nidal al-Mughrabi | CAIRO/GAZA
After years of strained relations, Egypt is moving closer to Hamas in Gaza, offering concessions on trade and free movement in return for moves to secure the border against Islamic State fighters who have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in northern Sinai.
Egypt has been at odds with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, since a crackdown by Cairo on the armed group's Islamist allies. Egypt closed the border, opening it only rarely.
But in recent weeks Egypt has eased restrictions, allowing in trucks laden with food and other supplies, and providing relief from an Israeli blockade that has restricted the flow of goods into the coastal territory.
The relaxation follows high-level Hamas visits to Cairo, which wants to restore its role as a regional powerbroker and crush Islamic State followers in the Sinai Peninsula, a strategic area bordering Gaza, Israel and the Suez Canal.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-egypt-sinai-idUSKBN16010C