Reports that appeared in recent days stating that Hamas and Syria have re-established relations after a decade of rupture between them represent a source of concern for Israel, a senior terrorism research has said.
According to a report by Reuters, “Hamas has decided to restore ties with Syria 10 years after its leadership shunned Damascus over opposition to President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on a revolt against his rule,” and cited two Hamas members.
“One official who asked not to be named said the two sides have held several ‘high-profile meetings to achieve that goal,’ ” stated the report.
Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, had to vacate its Damascus headquarters in 2012 after it came down on the side of Sunni rebels who were fighting to topple the minority Alawite Assad regime from power that year. Palestinian Islamic Jihad—the second-largest armed terror faction in Gaza—has remained in Damascus.
Hamas’s position on the Syrian war also harmed its ties with Iran for several years until those relations were restored in 2017, and Iranian financial and operational assistance to Hamas resumed.
