Hamas's Fathi Hamad, who holds the Interior Ministry portfolio, reported that Hamas security forces arrested an Egyptian officer who infiltrated the Gaza Strip in order to gather information. The officer has been returned to Egypt, and Hamas has asked Egyptian authorities to establish a security committee to coordinate between the parties.
In an interview to "Palestine On-Line," Hamad criticized the continued detention of Palestinian Authority residents in Egyptian prisons, which he says are abuses with no justification, and he called for their immediate and unconditional release. He described the Egyptian policy in this area as diverging from the precepts of Islam, saying, "Egypt must turn its investigations toward the Israeli occupation, and not send officers to infiltrate Gaza to gather information about Hamas or torture our people arrested in Egypt to obtain information against Gaza."
Hamad made it clear that relations between Egypt and the Hamas government are very limited and go through unofficial channels. He said that coordination has been reduced by the diplomatic deadlock following the failure of the reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah. Hamad said Egyptian security forces contact Hamas when they have information about security threats in Sinai.
Last week the Rafah crossing connecting Egypt to the Gaza Strip was opened for six days, during which 6,000 people passed through the crossing. Hamas government officials thanked Egypt for opening its border and called on it to leave the crossing open permanently.