A Cairo court banned Tuesday the Palestinian Hamas movement from operating in Egypt, tightening the noose around it amid a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood movement.

A Cairo court banned Tuesday the Palestinian Hamas movement from operating in Egypt, tightening the noose around it amid a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood movement.

The emergency court's decision to also seize Hamas's assets, ahead of a final ruling, was in response to a private citizen's petition to designate it as a terrorist group.

Egypt has accused Hamas of colluding in attacks on its territory in the past few years, and aiding the Muslim Brotherhood movement of deposed president Mohammad Mursi.

The military-installed government accuses the movement of plotting a spate of militant attacks that have killed scores of soldiers and policemen, charges the Brotherhood denies.

Dozens of alleged Hamas militants have been named among scores of defendants on trial with Morsi for organising jailbreaks and attacking police stations during the 2011 revolt that toppled Mubarak.

Hamas has denied accusations it is involved in fighting in the Sinai Peninsula, where militant attacks on security forces have surged since July. It also denounced the move, which it said "serves the (Israeli) occupation".

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said the court's decision was "an attempt to besiege the resistance, and serves the Israeli occupation".