DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad met a delegation from Hamas on Wednesday, with the Palestinian resistance movement saying the meeting could help “turn the page” after shunning Damascus for a decade.
Normalizing ties with Assad could help restore Hamas’s inclusion in a so-called “axis of resistance” against the Zionist regime, which includes Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, natural allies of Assad.
A delegation visited Assad in Damascus on Wednesday “to turn all the pages of the past,” according to the head of delegation and Hamas political office member Khalil al-Hayya.
“We consider it a historic meeting and a new start for joint Syrian-Palestinian action,” Hayya told a press conference.
“We agreed with the president to move beyond the past.”
He said several factors had encouraged the rapprochement now, including the Zionist regime’s development of ties with other Arab countries.
“The Palestinian cause today needs an Arab supporter,” he said.
Hamas has already restored its ties to Iran, with party officials praising the Islamic Republic for its contribution to the resistance movements, which they have used in fighting the Zionist regime.
Last month, Hamas said it will pursue efforts to normalize relations with the Syrian government.
On 21 June, a Palestinian source told Anadolu Agency that Hamas and the Syrian government were preparing to restore ties following efforts by their regional allies, including Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, and Iran.
Since 1999, Hamas had used Damascus as the headquarters for its leadership abroad.
Wednesday’s meeting with Assad “is in line with the broader rapprochement between Hezbollah and Hamas evident in Lebanon over the past year or more,” said Maha Yahya of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
Al-Hayya said there was consensus among Hamas leadership and supporters over the resumption of ties with Syria -- a move also backed by the Palestinian group’s foreign sponsors.
“All the states we notified of our decision were welcoming and supportive of the move, including Qatar and Turkey, who encouraged us to take the step,” al-Hayya said.
The two-day Hamas visit to Syria comes after the resistance movement signed a reconciliation deal with its Palestinian rival Fatah in Algiers last week, vowing to hold elections by next October in a bid to settle a 15-year intra-Palestinian rift.