Hamas Returns to Damascus After a Decade of Betraying Syrians

A delegation of Hamas representatives arrived in Damascus and met with the Syrian president after a decade since leaving the country during which time the Palestinian faction based in Gaza joined hands with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups to destroy Syria in the Turkish-led Qatari-financed anti-Islamic Muslim Brotherhood color revolutions dubbed the Arab Spring.

The Hamas delegation was headed by its head of Arab relations and politburo member Khalil al-Hayya and arrived in Damascus with a larger Palestinian delegation representing the heads of the main Palestinian factions coming from Algeria after they declared their commitment, for the umpteenth time, to coordinate their efforts to serve the cause of their people instead of serving different Arab and non-Arab states, like the case of Hamas serving both Qatar and Turkey.

President Bashar Assad emphasized during the meeting the importance of the outcome of the Algeria reconciliation talks for the Palestinian people and the unity of the Palestinian factions is the base for confronting the Israeli occupation.

President Assad affirmed to the visiting delegation, including al-Hayya that Syria has been determined to support the resistance despite the war waged against the Syrian people explaining:

“This is based on the Syrian people’s principles and firm belief in the resistance from one hand, and out of the interest on the other hand which requires to be with the resistance.”

The head of the Hamas delegation in the following press conference stressed that “there is no other country that has supported the Palestinian people more than Syria,’ and that his faction has ‘undergone an intensive review of its policies and decisions” leading to what al-Hayya called its “decision to restore the relations with Damascus.”

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Worth noting that even during the time Hamas was aiding Al Qaeda against Syria, the Syrian army continued arming the military wing of Hamas along with the other Palestinian factions to defend the Gaza strip from Israeli bombings and invasion.

Hamas’s return to Damascus, although publicly welcomed by the Syrian state, has come only after relentless efforts and pressure exerted on the Syrian leadership by Syria’s allies, mainly Hezb Allah (Hezbollah), Iran, and recently Russia, the return has angered the Syrian people in general due to the fact that the Palestinian faction had backstabbed Syria on their first chance, its military aid to Al Qaeda and ISIS-affiliated terrorist groups has caused the killing and injuring of thousands of Syrian and Palestinian people, the total destruction of the Palestinians’ largest camp, the Yarmouk Camp in southern Damascus, basically, it turned into a vibrant suburb in the country prior to the help Hamas extended to Al Qaeda, and caused a massive wave of exodus for the Palestinians.

Hamas had earlier issued a statement condemning the Israeli repeated bombing of Syria, something it neglected to do during the past decade, and linking those bombings to Syria’s stance supporting the Palestinian cause. The statement by Hamas was welcomed by Syria’s allies but received a cold shoulder from the Syrian state as it lacked an apology for the negative role Hamas played against Syria during the US-led war of terror on Syria siding by Israel against the only country that received the Palestinian faction’s leadership, trained its cadre, and armed its military wing when it was an outcast by the Arabs.

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After the miserable failure of the anti-Islamic US and UK-controlled Muslim Brotherhood project in the Arab world dubbed as the Arab Spring, and after Syria defeated this color revolution series of regime change in the region, Hamas, and its main sponsors Turkey and Qatar found themselves isolated by the whole world and their only way to prevent their complete end is to side by the winning party, in this case, Syria with its allies.

The Syrian people continue to demand an apology from the politburo of Hamas, and a general feeling of distaste is greatly felt among the Syrian activists and political analysts. It’s a tough decision, to receive Hamas’s delegation now, and only President Assad can take with the resentment against Hamas among the Syrian people and large segments of the Syrian officials, a leading political analyst put it; he explains that President Assad is trusted by his people and that they believe he will only take decisions that defend them and their interests, and more importantly, defend their dignity.

A Syrian official source was earlier quoted by the leading Syrian newspaper, Al Watan, on the 10th of October, that for the time being, the relations with Hamas will be limited to the return of Hamas as a resistance faction and within the framework of wider Palestinian factions with no individual representative to be based in Syria, the source added that Syria will welcome Hamas the resistance movement and not the Muslim Brotherhood faction. The source was referring to the relations with Hamas’s military wing.

Choosing Khalil al-Hayya as its representative in the delegation that visited Syria falls within the condition set by Damascus, al-Hayya has been a leading figure who contributed largely to the resistance to the Israeli occupation, one of his sons was killed by an Israeli airstrike in 2008 while leading a rocket brigade, another son of his and his daughter-in-law and grandson were killed by another Israeli airstrike on their home in July 2014, and two of his brothers were killed by Israel during the 2007 Palestinian protests.

The return of relations on any level between Hamas and Syria will not be met with joy by the enemies of Syria and Palestine unless Hamas cannot prioritize its resistance ideology over its anti-Islamic Muslim Brotherhood ideology for which the Syrian state is taking very cautious steps with this particular Palestinian faction.