A couple of weeks ago, Hamas forces attacked a gathering of Shiites in Gaza, which some saw as a solid sign of the withering ties between Hamas and Iran. It is certainly true that ties between Iran and Hamas have weakened over the past few months. In fact, Iran has significantly increased its support of Islamic Jihad, Hamas’ main rival in Gaza.
The primary reason for the rift between Iran and Hamas arose after Hamas failed to publicly support Syria’s Bashar al-Assad as protests broke out in the country last March. While it now appears that most of Hamas’ funding comes from Turkey, Iran is still trying to keep its hand in the game. This coming week, Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh is scheduled to visit Iran.
In what is either propaganda or an attempt by Hamas to please Iran before its trip, Palestine Press, aligned with Fatah, reports that Hamas forces attacked a group of Salafists rallying in support of the Syrian people against Assad’s regime. In addition to the attack, Hamas arrested a Salafi Sheikh, Sheikh Yasser Abu Houli. Attacks against the Salafists by Hamas are not new, however, this one is certainly interesting.
Update: It appears that this report was not propaganda by Fatah’s Palestine Press. Both Walla and Ashraq al-Awsat are reporting that Hamas carried out the attack. Despite carrying out the attack, both say that Hamas secretly supports the Syrian revolution, however, the public nature of the Salafist demonstration forced them to act. In short, Hamas despite supporting the Syrian revolution wants to appear as neutral as possible as the headquarters of their political bureau is still based in Damascus.
