GAZA, May 24 (UPI) -- An Egyptian spy expelled from Gaza had infiltrated the region to collect information on residents and the Hamas government, Hamas officials said.
The spy, a senior Egyptian officer, also intended to "perform other tasks," Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad said Monday without elaborating.
In a statement on a Hamas Web site, Hamad called for the creation of a joint "security committee for cooperation and coordination" between Egypt and Hamas.
"This is the solution, not dispatching officers that cross the security fence," Hamad said.
Hamad also accused Egypt of arresting and torturing Palestinians who had committed no crimes, Ynetnews.com reported.
In recent weeks, Hamas has accused Egypt's military of killing four Palestinians with poisonous gas sprayed into a tunnel near the Egyptian border and of beating to death a Palestinian fisherman whose boat collided with an Egyptian navy ship.
