The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that a bombing in a popular Egyptian market that targeted Western tourists appeared linked to the Hamas regime in neighboring Gaza.

The improvised explosive device (IED) attack in the Cairo market occurred on Sunday, killing a French student and injuring 20 others. Three Palestinian infiltrators linked to Hamas were being sought as suspects in the bombing.

“Foreign sides may be involved in this blast with the aim of destabilizing Egypt and hampering its efforts to establish a permanent truce in the Gaza Strip,” said Egyptian attorney Mokhtar Nouh, who represents Islamist defendants.

Israeli security sources said the three Palestinian suspects were believed to have infiltrated from Gaza through the tunnel network that connects to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. They said the Palestinians were sent by Hamas during heightened tensions with Egypt, which has refused to permanently reopen the border terminal at Rafah.

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“We know that there are elements within Hamas who want a confrontation with Egypt,” a security source said. “They are encouraged by Iran and others.”

The sources and analysts said the makeshift bombing in the popular tourist area of Cairo was not the work of al-Qaida. They said the IED was a crude bomb that reflected rudimentary skills.

“I think they are Islamist beginners,” Egyptian political analyst Diaa Rashwan said.

In 2008, Egypt appeared to have blocked the re-emergence of al-Qaida-aligned groups. The regime of President Hosni Mubarak won the cooperation of several imprisoned insurgency leaders and they responded with a renunciation of violence in the name of Islam as well as a truce offer to the United States.

The semi-official Egyptian daily Al Masaiya reported Egyptian security agencies were searching for three Palestinians linked to Hamas.

The newspaper said security forces have increased checkpoints in and around Cairo.

On Tuesday, Egypt’s official Al Ahram daily reported security agencies believed a small Islamist cell was responsible for the bombing.

The newspaper, disputing other accounts, said the bomb was placed on a marble bench in the Cairo market rather than thrown from a balcony toward pedestrians.

Hamas operatives and supporters have been streaming into the Cairo area over the last 18 months. They said some of them were able to finance pro-Hamas activities by Egyptian Islamists.

“This could spark a new wave of terrorism in Egypt,” former Egyptian Security chief director Gen. Fuad Alam said.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

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David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.