Hamas's
Re-Entry Into Iran's Orbit Contributes To Its Isolation
by Yaakov Lappin
Special to IPT News
April 12, 2018
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 Following a split
with Tehran due to differences over the Syrian civil war, Hamas recently
decided to patch up its relationship with Iran, and Iranian cash is once
again pouring into the Gaza Strip.
Hamas's new relations with Iran are flourishing just as the Assad
regime, a close Iranian ally that has received massive Iranian battlefield
and material assistance, commits another chemical atrocity.
"Hamas finds itself at a crossroads in regards to its relationship
with Iran, and the puppet organization of the Iranian sphere in the region,
Hizballah," Boaz Ganor, Executive Director of the International
Institute for Counter-Terrorism, in Herzliya, Israel, told the
Investigative Project on Terrorism.
"Traditionally, Hamas's relations with Iran have been complex,
since Hamas has been a branch of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood in the
Palestinian arena, which receives patronage from a Shi'ite entity. Therefore,
unlike Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas hesitated about being affiliated
with Iran and the Shi'ites."
At the same time, Ganor said, "Hamas in recent years has found
itself in a deep tear with the pragmatic Sunni regimes like Egypt, Saudi
Arabia, and the Gulf states. This has found expression, among others,
through the cessation of aid money, and restrictions placed on the heads of
[the Hamas] movement in various [Sunni] states. As a result, the need for
relations with Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Hizballah is only getting
stronger."
According to a January assessment delivered by Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, Iran's investment in Gaza's
two largest terrorist factions, the ruling Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic
Jihad (PIJ), has grown to $100 million per year, representing a substantial
increase in funding and in Iranian influence.
A lot of that money goes to Hamas's armed wing, the Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam
Brigades, which uses it to manufacture medium-range rockets that can strike
cities in central Israel, and newer, short-range rockets with massive
warheads that threaten Israeli communities near Gaza.
Hamas's military wing continues digging a complex network of combat
tunnels under Gaza City, and is saturating the whole of Gaza with weapons,
including RPG launchers, anti-tank missiles, and mortar shells, arming its
battalions for war with Israel.
While the PIJ organization has always been a direct proxy of Iran, Hamas
only recently took the decision to return to Tehran's orbit, in line with a
directive by Hamas's new chief, Yihye Sinwar, who views Iran as a useful
source of assistance – in terms of funding, training, combat doctrines, and
weapons manufacturing know-how, in the long-term war against Israel.
Hamas's decision to return to Iran's embrace is a victory for the
organization's military wing, which continues to view Iran as a principal
patron, and a defeat for the political wing, which wanted to improve
Hamas's relations with the Sunni powers, led by Saudi Arabia.
Sinwar, together with Hamas "chief of staff" Muhammad Deif and
senior influential leader Marwan Issa, have worked to ensure that it is
Hamas's military wing that calls the shots on foreign relations.
But the reestablished friendship with Iran could end up harming Hamas
significantly. In Syria, Iran's Islamic Republican Guards Corps (IRGC) has
been leading the ground war on behalf of the murderous Assad regime. An
assortment of Iranian-led forces have taken part in large-scale assaults on
Sunni regions of Syria.
The Iranian-led axis, which includes the Assad regime, has conducted
major massacres of Syria's Sunni population in the process.
The Assad regime, itself made up of Syria's Alawite minority sect – an
offshoot of Shi'ite Islam – has in recent days conducted yet another crime
against humanity, deploying chemical warfare indiscriminately against a
Sunni region east of Damascus.
All of these developments could prove to be hugely embarrassing to Sunni
Hamas, which is already being ostracized by Sunni Arab countries.
Dancing at two weddings
Ultimately, Hamas is trying to dance at two weddings, Ganor said. It is
"trying to preserve reasonable relations with the Sunni world, and
benefit from Iranian support."
This double game is earning Hamas growing criticism, even from those
sympathetic to Islamists.
As a recent example, a Palestinian-Jordanian journalist, who is
reportedly close to the Muslim Brotherhood, blasted praise Hamas's Sinwar
showered on Qassem Souleimani, the Iranian commander of the Quds Force.
Souleimani plays a key role in operations in Syria.
"Al-Sinwar's praise for Souleimani has angered most of the ummah
[community]," Yasser Al-Za'atreh, wrote in a tweet flagged by the Middle East Media Research Institute
(MEMRI). "[Souleimani] is a criminal, and [even] if he liberates
Jerusalem it will not suffice to cleanse his hands that are stained with
the blood of the Syrians. This is in addition to his crimes in Iraq and
Yemen, and to his well-known sectarian [Shi'ite] fantasies. Thus, this
miserable [praise for Souleimani] must stop, in order [for Al-Sinwar] to
preserve credibility."
Meanwhile, the pragmatic Sunni Arab governments remain locked in a
struggle against Hamas. Some have already branded Hamas a terrorist
organization. These states are "closely watching the warming of
relations between Hamas and the radical Shi'ite axis," Ganor said.
"From this perspective, one can expect every tightening of
relations with Iran and Hizballah to be met with growing sanctions [against
Hamas] from the Sunni states," he added.
All of these events might only further contribute to Hamas's isolation.
This isolation, together with Gaza's growing economic distress, is one of
the factors that drove Hamas to escalate the situation on the Gaza-Israel
border, by orchestrating 'popular' marches, and using them as cover to
initiate attacks on the security border fence.
Despite the consequences, there is no indication that the blossoming
relations between Gaza and Tehran will sour any time soon.
Yaakov Lappin is a military and strategic affairs correspondent. He
also conducts research and analysis for defense think tanks, and is the
Israel correspondent for IHS Jane's Defense Weekly. His book, The
Virtual Caliphate, explores the online jihadist presence.
Related Topics: Terror
Financing | Yaakov
Lappin, Hamas,
Iran,
Syrian
civil war, chemical
weapons, Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, Boaz
Ganor, Gadi
Eisenkot, Al-Qassam
Brigades, IRGC,
Yihye
Sinwar, Muhammad
Deif, MEMRI
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