Months of ties and talks between Hamas and Egypt ended in a deadlock, an official from the Islamic movement said on Thursday.
"There is a crisis between Hamas and Egypt now and it is subject to widen if Egypt did not take steps to defuse the tension," the official told the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi daily.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the tension was related to Egypt's mediation between Hamas and Israel to broker a prisoner exchange deal and the closure or Rafah crossing between the Hamas-controlled Gaza and Egypt.
"Egypt has warned Hamas leaders from being assassinated" by Israel if they insisted on their demands before releasing Gilad Shalit, the captive Israeli soldier whom Hamas kidnapped in 2006, according to the report on the pan-Arab newspaper.
Egypt mediated between the two sides as Israel rejects Hamas' demands as exaggerated. Hamas wants Israel to free 1,000 prisoners in addition to all jailed women, children and aged.
Egypt wants Hamas and Israel to decide on the prisoners' issue within a month by indirect talks they hold in Cairo, according to the newspaper.
Egypt also believes it can not open Rafah crossing point into Gaza unless Shalit is released because "the Israelis made the opening of the crossing subject to Shalit's freedom."
But for Hamas, according to the official, Egypt has to open Rafah crossing away from Israeli interference to ease the public pressure on Hamas by people in besieged Gaza.
Israel ordered the closure of Rafah crossing after Shalit was captured but it used to allow its opening from time to time. But since Hamas took over Gaza Strip by force last year, the crossing was completely shut down.
Source: Xinhua
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