Egypt rejects citizenship application by Hamas negotiator’s daughter on ‘security grounds’

Asmaa Hamad submitted her application while living in Egypt but has since relocated to Qatar with her husband, according to Egyptian media reports.

Egypt’s Interior Ministry has rejected a citizenship application by Asmaa Hamad, the daughter of senior Hamas political bureau member and negotiating team official Ghazi Hamad, citing “security grounds,” according to an official decree published in the Official Gazette earlier this week.

Asmaa Hamad submitted her application while living in Egypt but has since relocated to Qatar with her husband, according to Egyptian media reports.

A source close to the Hamad family described the rejection as “surprising” in comments to Egypt’s Al-Manassa, noting that three of Asmaa Hamad’s siblings had previously obtained Egyptian citizenship through their mother.

Ministerial Decree No. 1630 of 2026, published in Wednesday’s edition of the Official Gazette, formally confirmed the rejection. The decree cited Article 3, Paragraph 2, of Law No. 154 of 2004, which amended provisions of Egypt’s Nationality Law No. 26 of 1975, and based the decision on “security grounds.”

Article 3 grants individuals born to an Egyptian mother and a non-Egyptian father before the enactment of Law No. 154 of 2004 the right to notify the Interior Ministry of their desire to obtain Egyptian nationality. Asmaa Hamad was born in 1989 and therefore falls under the provision, which gives the ministry the legal authority to reject an application within one year of its submission.

Hamad served as Hamas political official

Ghazi Hamad is a senior Hamas political official who has served as a spokesperson for the terrorist organization and previously oversaw Gaza’s border crossings. The US Treasury Department sanctioned Hamad in November 2024, citing his senior position in Hamas and his role in supporting the group’s fundraising efforts and weapons smuggling into Gaza. Hamad became a prominent public figure during the Israel-Hamas war following the October 7, 2023, massacre and participated in hostage-ceasefire negotiations in Doha, where he currently resides.

The  Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv did not respond to The Jerusalem Post's request for comment.