Hamas restores ties with Syria after a decade
After more than ten years of estrangement from the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced a few days ago the restoration of relations with Damascus. "It has been agreed to reopen direct channels of communication (between the two sides) and to conduct a serious and constructive dialogue to pave the way for the restoration of mutual ties," sources in the Palestinian group told Reuters.
While the Syrian authorities have yet to comment on this, Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas's Arab and Islamic Relations Office, said that discussions had already taken place "inside Hamas and abroad (...). The end result was that it was agreed to find a way to do it". This backs up leaks from an official speaking on condition of anonymity: "high-profile meetings have already taken place".
Relations between Damascus and Hamas - which now controls the Gaza Strip - were strained to breaking point in 2012, when the Islamist group was forced to leave its headquarters in the Palestinian capital after positioning itself in favour of Sunni rebels fighting to overthrow the al-Assad regime during the popularly known "Arab Springs".
Criticism from the Muslim Brotherhood
For its part, the Muslim Brotherhood movement, the original matrix of the different local Islamist expressions including Hamas, has condemned the Palestinian group's decision. As reported by Al-Arab, the Brotherhood's fears were made public after a statement by Muslim scholars and scholars urged Hamas to "review its decision" as not being in line with the movement's "principles, values and legal norms".
However, throughout its history, both Hamas' and the Brotherhood's own position vis-à-vis the al-Assad regime have varied according to the figures who occupied the leadership. Thus, as former Hamas leader Khaled Mashal revealed, former Brotherhood leader in Syria Ali Sadreddine Al-Bayanouni advocated negotiations that included the Syrian government, before the movement as a whole shifted towards an anti-Damascus alliance with local figures such as Mashal in Palestine.
The rise to power of leader Ismail Haniyeh - following the defeat of a Mashal that saw Tehran withdraw much of its arms and financial aid, and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah move away from Hamas - has again led to rapprochement with the Persian Islamic Republic. This is perceived as an Iranian victory within Hamas itself, especially by the Ezzeldin Al-Qassam brigades" (the movement's military wing). Haniyeh has shifted the movement's rhetoric towards greater sympathy with Iran and Syria since his arrival as Hamas Politburo chairman.
Already in 2018, the now leader of the Palestinian terrorist group stressed that Hamas "has never been in a state of enmity with the Syrian regime". "Syria supported Hamas in important stages and gave it a lot, (...) but many objective circumstances led to the current relationship," Haniyeh said at the time, referring to the estrangement that characterised the previous mandate.
Several observers have pointed to the recent rapprochement as further evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood, historically linked to states such as Turkey and Qatar, has begun to distance itself from these governments. Thus, Ankara's change of stance towards Hamas, with the aim of improving its relations with Israel, has increased tensions between the Brotherhood and the Ottoman power.
Syrian opposition groups, on the other hand, have also rejected Hamas's decision, arguing that the Al-Assad regime killed tens of thousands of Syrian and Palestinian refugees.
According to Michael Barak, a researcher at the Institute for Counterterrorism in the Israeli city of Herzliya, "Hezbollah in Lebanon also participated in this reconciliation", according to JNS (Jewish News Syndicate).
This situation is increasing the fears of neighbouring powers, such as Israel, because, in Barak's words, "Hamas is increasing its presence in northern Lebanon. If it opens a headquarters in Syria, it can also start to build capabilities". This is why the researcher believes that "Hezbollah has helped secure a reconciliation between Hamas and Syria, which is part of an Iranian strategic calculation to turn Syria into another area of activity for Palestinian organisations", and allow the Palestinian group to receive weapons from the Persian country once again.
Indeed, in Barak's view, this move could be yet another step for Tehran, which seeks to exert pressure on Hamas through funding and arms supplies to implement the Iranian agenda in the Gaza Strip. Thus increasing its regional influence.
