GAZA (Dispatches) -- Hamas said Thursday it had allocated new homes funded by Iran in Gaza to Palestinian former prisoners who had been held in Israeli jails.
The Prisoners Ministry said 26 apartments in a new building in southern Gaza had been given out in a lottery between 125 Palestinian former prisoners.
Officials from Hamas said the program was the first of its kind funded by Iran. A second building will be constructed in northern Gaza, the ministry said, adding the project aimed to "reduce the suffering of our freed prisoners.”
Iran has long been a strong backer of Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad, providing them moral support.
In the summer of 2017, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh thanked Iran for its support of the Palestinians. In October, deputy Hamas leader Salah al-Aruri led a delegation to Iran.
In December of 2018, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar and a delegation of Hamas leaders visited Tehran.
The delegation met with Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who predicted that widespread corruption will annihilate the Zionist regime, while also praising Palestinian "resistance” against Israel.
Around 6,500 Palestinians are currently in Zionist prisons, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.