Hamas has accused Israel of responsbility for the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers last August, and denied it gave the Egyptian authorities names of Palestinians involved in the incident.
Last month, the state-run Al-Ahram Al-Arabi magazine published a list of Hamas members it said were behind the attack.
“Investigation by us and the Egyptian authorities revealed that no Palestinians from the Gaza Strip or outside it were involved in the incident,” claimed Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the Hamas political bureau. “We do not rule out [the possibility] that Israel deployed jihadist groups in Sinai to carry out the operation.”
Opposition forces in Egypt have accused President Mohamed Morsy of attempting to hide Hamas’ role in the attack due to the Morsy administration’s close relationship with the Gaza Strip government. Some have claimed that Hamas is the Palestinian extension of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
