Senior Hamas official accuses Fatah of plotting to kill Egypt's Sisi

Hamas representative Salah al-Bardawil said that the members of an alleged Fatah terror cell provided Hamas with information and documents that indicate that they had planned to kill Sisi.

Sisi and Abu-Mazen (photo credit: REUTERS)
Sisi and Abu-Mazen
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A Gazan terror cell forged by Tawfik Tirawi, a senior Fatah official and the former head of the Palestinian Authority General Intelligence Services, was plotting to assassinate Egypt's President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, a senior Hamas official has claimed.
In a press statement on Monday, Hamas representative Salah al-Bardawil said that the recently-arrested members of the alleged Fatah terror cell provided Hamas with information and documents that indicate that they had planned to assassinate Sisi and other senior Egyptian officials.
According to Bardawil, the terrorist cell conspired to put the blame for Sisi's assassination on Hamas, thereby wreaking havoc on Hamas's relations with Egypt, which have recently grown warmer.
"We will convey these documents to Egypt and to other regional parties to show them the grave conspiracy created by Tirawi," Bardawil stated, adding that Hamas will not allow anyone to damage Egypt's national security.
A user named Gareeb Gaza, who presents himself as a fighter in Hamas's military wing, al-Kassam Brigades, wrote a series of remarks about the ongoing affair on his Twitter account.
"The Egyptian intelligence services or other security forces have possibly taken part in this performance in order to denounce the Palestinian resistance and to create a justification for Egyptian military involvement in Gaza Strip," the Kassam activist said.
Another aim of the Fatah-orchestrated assassination plot, according to Gareeb Gaza, was "Egypt's plan to ask the Arab League to designate Hamas as a terror organization, similar to Hezbollah."
Reacting to Bardawil's allegations about him in a conversation with the Egyptian news site Dot Msr, Tirawi said: "Egypt – its army, its political leadership and its people – is strong. These allegations are ridiculous and do not deserve a reaction."
In an interview with the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Fatah Spokesman Osama al-Qawasmi stated: "Bardawil's allegations are lies that no Egyptian or Palestinian child believes in."
"His false remarks aim at covering up Hamas's crimes in the Gaza Strip and are an attempt by Hamas to steer the compass away from the dire humanitarian situation that stems from the organization's policy on the one hand, and from the Israeli occupation on the other hand," Qawasmi added.