CAIRO: The Egyptian Ministry of Interior has said that it released most of the Palestinians detained from the Gaza Strip that were being held in Egyptian Prisons. The Palestinians had been arrested after using tunnels to enter Egypt, and dozens had been arrested after border fence at Rafah was breached in 2008. The announcement comes as Hamas called on Egypt this week to release all Palestinian prisoners, including a leader from the military wing of the movement. The tensions have been heightened following the death of the brother of Hamas spokesman, Youssef Abu Zuhri Hamdan, in an Egyptian Prison last Monday, in an Alexandria prison. By Tuesday, Yussif Hamdan’s death reverberated across the Arab world after the 38-year-old was reported dead as a result of torture and the Gaza-based Islamist party accusing Cairo of having a hand in his death. (See also Hamas official’s brother dies in Egypt, torture alleged, reconciliation under fire) Hamas spokesman and Hamdan's brother, Sami Abu Zuhri, told the Palestinian news agency that his brother suffered a severe hemorrhage as a result of being subjected to torture in Egyptian prisons during the past two weeks, adding that the Egyptian Prison Authority “refused to transfer his brother to a hospital and was only forced to take him to the hospital after his health condition deteriorated.†Officials from the Egyptian Security services, explained that 51 Palestinians were arrested during the flow of thousands of Gazans into Egypt, through a hole in the border fence in Rafah area. Officials stressed that the 51 detainees have been handed over to Hamas several months ago, noting that there are only a few Palestinians in prison Egyptian, without specifying their numbers. The ministry denied last Tuesday that Hamdan died as a result of torture in prison as claimed by Hamas, stressing that he “died as a result of a heart attack, which is a natural death.” Hamas declared in a statement that it “condemns and deplores the killing and torture of Hamdan” and called on Egyptian officials to investigate the incident and the circumstances behind it and they are demanding accountability for those responsible in the death of what they have now termed the “Martyr Youssef Abu Zuhri Hamdan,” demanding the Egyptian government immediately release all political detainees. Hamas singled out leader Ayman Nofal as a person who should be released, “before they die in prisons due to a similar torture,” said a statement from Hamas. According to the “Freedom for Nofel” blog, the Hamas leader was arrested by the Egyptian Security Services in mid-January 2008, before the borders were breached and that the Egyptian government has accused him of illegally infiltrating into its territory. **reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam BM
