Egypt Makes Its Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Listing Permanent, Ending Time-Limited Renewals

Egypt has permanently placed the Muslim Brotherhood on its list of terrorist entities, according to a Public Prosecution decision published in the Official Gazette and reported on Monday, Nov. 9. The step replaces a time-limited designation that courts had extended, rather than imposing a first-time ban. Egypt first designated the group a terrorist organization in December 2013, months after the military removed President Mohamed Morsi, a Brotherhood member, following mass protests against his rule.

What the permanent listing changes

The decision was issued by the Office for Regulating Lists of Terrorist Entities and Terrorists at the Public Prosecution, Egyptian Streets and the Egyptian Gazette reported. The National, citing the notice, said the listing took effect on publication in the Nov. 8 edition of Al-Waqa’i Al-Masriya, the government’s legal gazette. Egyptian Streets and the Egyptian Gazette described the Official Gazette as publishing the decisions on Monday, Nov. 9.

The National reported that the move replaces a temporary listing ordered in December 2022 and makes the group’s inclusion permanent under Egypt’s 2015 law governing terrorist entities and individuals. Egyptian Streets, citing a later court action, said that in December 2025 a court had renewed the group’s designation for another five years. Those accounts describe a shift from time-limited renewals to a standing listing; they do not describe a new, first-time ban.

Under Law No. 8 of 2015, Egyptian Streets reported, listing an organization prohibits its activities, closes its premises, bans its meetings and freezes its assets. The law also prohibits providing financial support or collecting money or other resources for the organization, directly or indirectly, including assets held jointly or controlled through intermediaries and income generated from them. It further prohibits joining the listed organization, encouraging others to become members, promoting its activities or raising its slogans.

The National said the notice cites a Cairo Criminal Court judgment issued in May 2023 and a ruling by the Court of Cassation in April 2026. Egyptian Streets reported that in April 2026 a State Security Criminal Court ordered the dissolution of several organizations it said were affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and the closure of their headquarters, and that the group’s former acting Supreme Guide, Mahmoud Ezzat, was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Boston Report has not independently reviewed those court judgments.

Three men were listed as individuals, a separate step

The same notice permanently placed three men on a separate list of individual terrorists after what Egyptian Streets and the Egyptian Gazette described as final and binding court convictions. The names, as rendered by those outlets, are Abdel-Rahman Hassan Mohamed Meligy (also spelled Abdelrahman Hassan Mohamed Meleigi), Gamal Abdel-Hamid Gomaa Abdel-Hamid, and Osama Ibrahim Mohamed Mostafa El-Rakh (also rendered Al-Rakh).

The National stressed that listing an organization and listing individuals are distinct legal measures: the Brotherhood’s designation does not automatically place everyone associated with it on the list of individuals. The three men, the reports said, face travel bans, possible withdrawal or cancellation of passports, asset freezes and limits on holding public office, working in government or public-sector companies, and taking part in civil-society or religious advocacy. Memberships in professional syndicates and on certain boards may also be suspended.

Egyptian Streets noted that Egypt’s terrorist lists have been reviewed before. In November 2024, it reported, a criminal court approved a Public Prosecution request to remove 716 individuals from the lists after investigations indicated they had ceased unlawful activities against the state.

U.S. and European steps targeted branches, not the movement as a whole

The Egyptian decision comes after earlier moves by the United States and a vote in the European Parliament that stopped short of a bloc-wide listing.

On Jan. 13, 2026, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, in coordination with the State Department, designated the Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under Executive Order 13224, accusing them of providing material support to Hamas. In a concurrent action, the State Department designated the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood, also known as al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah, as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and designated its secretary general, Muhammad Fawzi Taqqosh, as an SDGT. Those sanctions freeze property of the designated parties that is in the United States or in the possession of U.S. persons and generally prohibit U.S. persons from dealing with them. Treasury’s accusations of material support are the U.S. government’s claims; they are not findings of an international court, and they apply to the named branches and individuals, not to every person or office that uses the Brotherhood’s name.

On Oct. 8, the European Parliament adopted a resolution by a vote of 381 to 167 calling on EU governments to provide information “enabling the assessment” of whether leaders, structures and what the resolution called front organizations linked to the Brotherhood should be considered for the EU’s terrorist list, The National reported. The parliament also asked the European Commission for an overview of any EU funds awarded to associates of the group. The National noted that the European Parliament cannot itself place anyone on the EU terrorist list; that would require a separate decision by the Council of the European Union.

What this listing does not settle

Egypt’s permanent listing is a domestic legal measure under Egyptian law. It does not, by itself, change U.S. or EU designations, and it should not be read as a finding that the Muslim Brotherhood as a single, worldwide organization has been designated everywhere. The U.S. actions in January targeted specific chapters. The EU vote asked for an assessment. Several Middle Eastern governments, including Egypt, have long outlawed the group; those national bans are also not a substitute for one another.

The latest Egyptian notice was issued as Cairo continues a wider diplomatic calendar, including Egypt’s decision to reopen its embassy in Tripoli after 12 years. The prosecution’s terrorist-list decision is a separate legal process from that diplomacy.

Sources

• The National: Egypt makes Muslim Brotherhood’s terrorist listing permanent (Nov. 9, 2026)
• Egyptian Streets: Egypt Permanently Lists Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorist Entity, Official Gazette Says
• Egyptian Gazette: Egypt permanently designates Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist group
• U.S. Department of the Treasury: Treasury and State Departments Designate Muslim Brotherhood Branches as Terrorist Organizations (Jan. 13, 2026)
• The National: EU parliament calls for Muslim Brotherhood terror listings (Oct. 8, 2026)