Despite Iran's support for the terrorist organization, Hamas's Syrian faction attacks the secretary-general following his participation in the funeral of Quds Force commander • "His hands slaughtered Muslims"
Ismail Haniya at Qassem Suleimani Funeral // Photo: AFP
Hamas controversy following Ismail Haniyeh's visit to Tehran and obituary of Quds Force commander Kassem Suleimani, who was liquidated last week. That's how Egyptian news was posted on Tuesday.
Following a visit by Hamas' senior delegation to Iran, a statement was issued on behalf of Hamas in Syria, quoted on the news site: "Members of the Hamas Islamic Resistance Movement condemn the positions and messages circulated by the Palestinian factions (Hamas) expressing condolences on the death of criminal Qassem Suleimani "In the murder and deportation of the Palestinian people in Syria, as well as his crimes against the peoples of the region from Syria to Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. After all, his aid to the resistance does not clear his crimes and does not purify his hands, slaughter Muslims and back their blood."
Haniya at Suleimani's funeral: "Suleimani - Shahid Jerusalem" // Photo: Reuters
The letter hinted at the civil war events in Syria, during which the Assad regime and its allies from Iran bombed the Palestinian refugee camp of al-Yarmuk in Damascus. Attempts at the camp's occupation, ruled by Islamist rebels, included a brutal siege that led to mass starvation in the refugee camp. Most of its occupants fled it and many others died of starvation or bombing.
The release later states that alongside the boon of overcoming Kassem Suleimani, the movement highlights its opposition to the American rampage in the region, and hopes for a near victory in the war against criminals, who backed Muslim peoples. It also states that "the occupation rampage in the region is intended to serve the criminal Zionist enemy." The announcement emphasized that "the wounds in Palestine, Syria, Iraq are in one body." At the end, the letter called for the Hamas leadership "to be in the line of the oppressed peoples, for whom Palestine is the most sacred issue."
On social networks, officials identified with the Salafis admitted to Syria about the matter. They noted favorably that in the Hamas coup in Syria, they were able to sober up and tilt their side alongside their rebel brethren in front of the enemy forces of Iran and the Syrian army.
Dr. Michael Barak of the International Institute for Anti-Terrorism Policy said in a conversation with Israel Today that "this criticism of the Hamas branch in Syria has little weight on the leadership, but reflects an existing mood within the movement. It is too early to determine if it is spreading. What is more, there is more evidence of collaborations between the Hamas affiliate in Syria and rebel officials in the country, especially among the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Syria. "