In a briefing on Feb. 8, Abdul Hamid said the Palestinians were not
known have committed crimes in Egypt. But he said the Hamas operatives
were being concealed by the opposition Muslim Brotherhood movement.
Several Brotherhood members were arrested in Sinai over the last 10
days, the governor said. He did not elaborate.
More than 700,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip flooded the Sinai in
late January and early February. The lion's share of Palestinians were
shoppers who returned to the Gaza Strip by Feb. 3.
Still, officials said Hamas members distributed about $1 million in
counterfeit U.S. currency to buy supplies in El Arish, the capital of the
Sinai. They said more than 3,500 Palestinians were arrested for remaining in
the Sinai beyond the Feb. 3 deadline to return to the Gaza Strip.
Abdul Hamid said Egypt would deport all Palestinian infiltrators to the
Gaza Strip. He said more than 2,100 of them were sent to Gaza over the last
week.
Some of the Hamas infiltrators were also said to have bought property in
Sinai. Egyptian law bans foreigners from purchasing land in Sinai, populated
mostly by Bedouin tribes.
On Feb. 7, the state-owned Al Ahram daily reported that Egypt arrested
650 Palestinians in El Arish. The newspaper said authorities also seized 22
vehicles with Palestinian Authority registration plates. The detainees were
said to
have included Hamas members.
Officials said scores of Egyptians also infiltrated the Gaza Strip in an
attempt to join Hamas. They said some of them were expelled by the Hamas
regime and later interrogated by police in Sinai. At one point, officials
said, up to 20,000 Egyptians illegally entered the Gaza Strip.
Saudi nationals also infiltrated the Gaza Strip from Sinai in an attempt
to join Hamas. On Feb. 4, an Al Qaida-aligned website reported that at least
four Saudi fighters entered the Gaza Strip. The website called on other
Saudis to
follow.
