Al-Qaeda has no presence and it is also not wanted in the Gaza strip, a minister in the Hamas government told the regional daily al-Hayat Monday.
"We have closed all loopholes, and we do not wish to deal with al- Qaeda," Fathy Hammad, Gaza's Interior Minister, told the paper, DPA reported.
"We are moderates and we value that, we do not like extremists or fanatics," the minister said.
"We don't need jihad fighters or weapons...whoever wants to support us sends us money," Hammad added.
Hamas, considered a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, took complete control over the Gaza Strip in 2007, ousting the more secular leaning Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.