Another visit to Bashar al-Assad. This time, a delegation from Hamas traveled to Syria for the first time in a decade. Two senior Hamas officials were on hand as part of a broader effort to resume ties after years of tension following the Palestinian group’s support for opposition movements against the Syrian regime, and after normalization discussions with Palestinian leadership in the pursuit of reconciliation. Hamas touched down in Damascus on a Wednesday, following a stop in Algiers aimed at smoothing rifts with rivals in the Palestinian arena, namely President Mahmoud Abbas and the Fatah movement. [Citation: Reuters]
“We hope to close the old chapter and look toward the future,” commented Khalil al Hayah, who leads Hamas’s Arab and Islamic relations office in Damascus. Al Hayah and other representatives from various Palestinian factions expressed optimism about the reconciliation during this gathering. He added that after talks with Assad, Syria’s leadership articulated its interests and reinforced its stance on supporting Palestinian resistance, while underscoring Hamas’s opposition to any U.S. or Israeli aggression against Syria. [Citation: Associated Press]
Despite long-standing ties, Hamas parted ways with the Assad government early in the civil conflict. For years, the group maintained a political stronghold in Syria, backing operations against Israel. Key Hamas leadership remained in Damascus even after the organization took control in Gaza in 2007. The Syrian civil war and Assad’s harsh response to civilian unrest fractured regional alliances. The majority of the opposition movement, often Sunni, stood in opposition to Assad’s Alawite-led regime, complicating the stance of groups with broader regional loyalties. Public protests against Assad’s violence helped redefine the region’s political landscape. [Citation: BBC Summary]
resistance axis
In this evolving context, Hamas signaled a shift away from the traditional axis of Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah. Iran and Hezbollah have acted as pivotal mediators seeking to re-establish ties, and in September Hamas signaled its intent to restart relations with Syria to advance the goals of Palestinian people amid shifting regional and international dynamics. [Citation: Reuters]
These diplomatic moves come as Israel works to restore relations with Turkey, even as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to advocate for Palestinian concerns. By contrast, several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, had already normalized relations with Hamas’s adversaries in recent years. [Citation: Al Jazeera]
Allies for Iran
Iran appears interested in keeping the broader alignment intact, especially as its nuclear talks with world powers face renewed pressure and social tensions rise at home. Over the past decade, Tehran and Hezbollah have stayed intertwined with Assad and Hamas. While the Syrian president has shown openness to rapprochement with Hamas, he has framed it as reconciling with Hamas as a component of the broader “resistance” narrative that has defined local and regional diplomacy. [Citation: Reuters]
Hamas’s leadership, including figures who once operated from Damascus, is observed to be reevaluating ties. The organization’s leadership has shifted locations over the years, with Qatar serving as a stage for organizational directions in the absence of direct control from Damascus, and ongoing discussions about reactivating coordination in the Syrian capital. How long the path to full restoration will take remains unclear. [Citation: The Guardian]