Hamas leader rejects calls to split from Muslim Brotherhood

Ismail Haneya, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday rejected calls on his movement to split from its Muslim Brotherhood parent movement, which Egypt declared as a terrorist group last week. "Nobody, regardless its influence, can force Hamas or any other factions of resistance to deny their ideology, history, depths and dimensions," Haneya said in a press conference in the Gaza City. Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007 after routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' forces, considers itself an offshoot of the pan-Arab, Egyptian-born movement. Egypt accuses Hamas of aiding the Brotherhood in staging insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Gaza, after the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July. Hamas denies the accusation and says it never intervenes in the internal affairs of Egypt, though it has showed solidarity with Morsi, who is a Brotherhood member. Last week, after a car bomb explosion killed up to 16 north of Cairo, the Egyptian government declared the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. So far, there has been no evidence that the Brotherhood was behind the bombing. Several officials of the Palestinian Liberation Organization urged Hamas to declare that it is no longer associated with the Brotherhood, but Hamas rejected the proposal. Haneya also said that he doesn't think Cairo would classify Hamas as a terrorist group, because Hamas "is an active and influential resistance movement."