Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Hamas hurries to patch things with Hezbollah

"... One source told Al-Monitor on June 10, "Following this tension, Hamas leaders in Lebanon contacted Hezbollah leaders and an urgent meeting was held between the two sides. Hamas strongly denied that Palestinian fighters affiliated with the movement had participated in the fighting in Syria." In addition, the source offered, "Following these high-level contacts, which involved Lebanese politicians, the two sides agreed that Hezbollah would back down on its demand that Hamas leave Beirut's southern suburbs, which is Hezbollah's stronghold. Most Hamas leaders live in this area, and it is home to the movement's main office."On June 11, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which is close to Hezbollah, published "It's Forbidden to Criticize Hamas." According to the story, "Hezbollah had issued an internal circular forbidding party officials from commenting on or directing any criticism at the Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas]."
The Kuwaiti daily Al-Seyassah had published a story on June 10 story quoting unnamed sources as saying that Lebanese General Security had stopped issuing visas to Hamas members at the behest of Hezbollah. While Hamas denied these reports, the Lebanese General Directorate of General Security issued a statement the same day confirming the freeze on the issuance of visas....
While Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas had for many years constituted a solid alliance, with developments in the Syrian crisis, Hamas leaders adopted the Muslim Brotherhood's anti-Assad stance, left its Damascus headquarters and allied with Qatar, the Syrian opposition's primary supporter. ...
The daily Al-Quds al-Arabi (London) alleged in a June 4 article, "The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, decided to maintain its alliance with Hezbollah and Iran, as a way to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation by force of arms, after Arab money failed to liberate a single inch of occupied Arab territories." ..."

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