Hamas clarifies Egypt's threat to Gaza

Ismail Haneya, head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, said he received assurance from Egypt on Wednesday that Egypt will not cause any harm to the Palestinian coastal enclave. Senior Egyptian security officials told Haneya in a telephone conversation that Egypt will not cause any harm to the people in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement released by the Hamas government. On Tuesday, the Hamas government slammed remarks of Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi that Egypt may use force against Hamas. Egypt will respond "harshly if we felt that some parties in Hamas or other sides are trying to harm the Egyptian national security," Fahmi was quoted Tuesday by the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat as saying in an interview at the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The Hamas government said Fahmi's words would cause "serious escalation" in regional situation. According to the Hamas statement on Wednesday, Egyptian officials said the Rafah border crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt will be reopened for three days from Saturday. Egypt has closed the Rafah crossing, the only crossing for the people in Gaza, for two weeks, and only temporarily reopened it for two days during this period. Ties between Egypt and Hamas which violently seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 soured since the ouster of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on July 3. Egypt's media accused Hamas of involving in violence against the Egyptian army which was denied by the Islamic movement.