CAIRO: Egyptian authorities deported seven Palestinians to the Gaza Strip after they were detained for security reasons upon their arrival to Cairo airport, the state news agency said yesterday. It was the latest development suggesting growing tensions between Egypt and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

The group was arrested in the same week that a state-owned Egyptian magazine published a report accusing Hamas of orchestrating one of the bloodiest attacks against the Egyptian Army in decades — the killing 16 of soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula in August 2012.

Hamas officials deny involvement in the August attack and say the seven Palestinians were wrongfully held.

The men were detained Tuesday after flying in from Syria, the MENA agency reported, because they did not have exit stamps. They were released three days later after investigations showed no illegal activity.

Syrian authorities do not stamp passports issued by the Palestinian Authority, which has a measure of limited self-rule over Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.