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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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November 30, 2017
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Hamas
Leader Affirms Military Ties with Hizballah
by John Rossomando • Nov 30, 2017
at 5:00 pm
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Hamas and Hizballah have restored military cooperation, a top Hamas
leader told the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
Ties between the two groups became strained after Hizballah intervened in Syria on behalf
of Bashar Al-Assad and Hamas sided with the Muslim Brotherhood-influenced Free Syrian Army and provided training for the rebels.
Iran reduced financial support for Hamas – cutting it by $23 million a month in 2013 – as a
result, but ties were fully restored last year.
"Regardless of the nature of the military secrets, but we differed
at a moment regarding the Syrian issue," said Hamas political official Salah al-Bardawil.
"[Hizballah] and Iran were angry, even though we only meant for them
to stay out of the muddled situation in Syria and not interfere-- we
offered this as a recommendation.
"Nevertheless, we do not deny that cooperation exists between
'[Hizballah]' and 'Hamas.'"
Al-Bardawil also reaffirmed that calls by Fatah to disarm Hamas'
military wing in exchange for reconciliation between the two Palestinian
factions were a non-starter.
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced last month that his group sent Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles to Hamas in
Gaza.
Israeli strategists anticipate
that the Jewish state could face a two-front war against both Hizballah and
Hamas in a future conflict. In addition to Hizballah, Israel faces the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other Shiite militias based in
Syria.
"There are no more one-front wars. That is our basic assumption.
That is what we are preparing the military for," Israeli Defense
Minister Avigdor Liberman said
in last month.
A two-front war could prove costly for Israel because it means all of
Israel would be in range of terrorist rockets. A 2015 Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) assessment found that Hizballah could rain 1,000 rockets per day
onto Israeli cities, causing hundreds of civilian casualties.
That's not to mention the threat from ISIS in the Sinai where Egypt is
losing its fight to contain the jihadis. ISIS – whose fighters in Sinai
have been trained and armed
by Hamas – launched a rocket attack against southern Israel in
October.
Israel's next war will be very different from anything it's faced in
decades, as the Jewish state hasn't fought a two-front war since the 1973
Yom Kippur War.
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