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Source: News from the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

The tension between Hamas and Egypt continued, following the building of the barrier along the Egyptian-Gaza Strip border and various incidents. One manifestation was a speech given by Hosni Mubarak which contained a veiled criticism of Hamas and strongly defended Egypt’s right to erect the barrier. Some of his remarks were the following:

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak: Egypt has the right and the duty to protects its national security (Al-Arabiya TV, January 24, 2010)

“Despite Egypt’s continued efforts to revive the peace process and Palestinian agreement, we are under attack from Arab and regional powers (i.e., Syria and Iran), which never gave Palestinian and its people what Egypt did, and merely trade on the Palestinians’ suffering. Egypt will not surrender to pressure and blackmail and will not endure anarchy on its border or terrorism and incitement on its soil. We have reliable information about those who are waging the attack against us and organizing rallies attacking Egypt in a neighboring country.”

• “The facilities and fortifications erected by our engineers on our eastern border were built as a result of full Egyptian sovereignty. We will not agree to intervention from anyone or that anyone struggle against us or argue with us on this matter. It is the right, duty and responsibility of Egypt as a state and of all states to control their borders and to ensure their security against threats from enemies as well as friends.”
• “We are completing the construction of the facilities and fortifications along our border. They do not harm anyone but protect our national security from violations we are familiar with and terrorist activities such as those we saw at Taba, Sharm el-Sheik, Dahab and Cairo (Egyptian TV, January 24, 2010).

Crethi Plethi

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