The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Sunday denounced recent accusations leveled by Egyptian ambassador to the Palestinian Authority Yasser Osman, accusing the envoy of interfering in Palestinian internal affairs.

"The Egyptian ambassador holds regular meetings with security officials in the West Bank who give him fabricated reports about Hamas," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.

"The Egyptian ambassador then sends these reports to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry as if they were correct," he added.

In an interview with the private Al-Watan newspaper, Osman accused Hamas of incitement against Egypt following the June 30 protests that led to the ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi.

He also accused the Hamas-affiliated media of inciting the Sinai residents to fight Egyptian army soldiers.

The Hamas spokesman called on the Egyptian envoy to "show respect for his diplomatic position" and stop what he called "incitement" against Hamas.

Relations between Egypt and Hamas, the latter of which is an ideological offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, have deteriorated dramatically since Morsi's July 3 ouster by the military.

Local newspaper recently published names of some Palestinians, whom the newspaper said helped the Muslim Brotherhood members in escaping from prisons during the 2011 uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

NJF/NJF