Eyad al-Bazam, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior, earlier this week denied reports ISIS terrorists had infiltrated into Egypt through tunnels along the border with the Gaza Strip. He described the reports as “lies and fabrications,” adding that they are part of a campaign to “distort the image of the Gaza Strip,” and that “There is no presence of ISIS in the Gaza Strip.”

The denial came in response to a report in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm according to which Egyptian security forces arrested 15 ISIS terrorists who tried to enter Sinai from the Gaza Strip. According to the report, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip facilitated the infiltration of the ISIS terrorists into Egypt so that they could carry out a terrorist attack against Egyptians.

The report said that the terrorists had been entrusted with establishing terror cells and branches of ISIS in Egypt.

Hamas is obviously nervous about the presence of ISIS terrorists in the Gaza Strip and sees them as a direct challenge to its rule. ISIS believes that Hamas is “too moderate” and is not doing enough to achieve the destruction of Israel.