GAZA CITY (Agencies) — Tensions have been rising rapidly between Egypt and the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas and Egypt have accused each other of generating friction along the 14-kilometer border between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula.
The Islamic resistance movement said Egypt has kept dozens of Hamas operatives in detention on charges of infiltrating or operating in Sinai.
“Their condition is abysmal,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. “They are subjected to horrific methods of torture. They are electrocuted, hung from their limbs for long periods of time, and beaten.”
Hamas was believed to have retaliated against Egypt. On May 12, a bomb was found and defused outside the Egyptian embassy in Gaza City in what was termed an unprecedented incident.
Palestinian sources said Hamas has been threatened by Egypt's siege of the Gaza Strip.
“Hamas believes that it must change this situation immediately,” a Palestinian source familiar with the Hamas government said.
For its part, Egypt has intensified efforts against food items and other smuggling to the Gaza Strip. On May 12, an Egyptian Navy vessel rammed into a Gaza fishing boat, which then capsized. Egypt has assessed that Palestinian fishing boats marked a major element in the smuggling industry in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas Interior Ministry said the Egyptian Navy captured five Palestinians on the fishing boat and beat them with clubs and pipes. The ministry said one of the fishermen died from the beating.
“The Egyptian corvette moved very rapidly toward the Palestinian boat, brutally capsized it, and hit Mohammed repeatedly till he died,” the son of the dead Palestinian, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Bardawil, said. “The Egyptian Navy left the body in sea.”
Photo: Members of Hamas' security forces help Palestinian women to cross the Rafah border in the southern Gaza Strip May 15, 2010. The Rafah crossing, Gaza's only border crossing with Egypt, has largely been closed since June 2007. (Reuters photo)
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