Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, has been invited to Moscow. The invitation was extended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during an Aug. 3 meeting in Doha. Meshaal remains in Doha under the auspices of the Qatari emirate, but his relations with the current emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, are nothing more than correct. The financial assistance being provided isn't the same as under the previous emir, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, but as long as Meshaal is able to run the movement’s affairs from the emirate, he cannot complain.
Like the rest of the movement’s leaders, Meshaal is looking high and low for a solution to Hamas’ existential problem and the intolerable plight of the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. With the almost complete disconnect between Hamas and Iran and the latter’s discontinuation of military aid, Saudi Arabia has now become the movement’s patron du jour. At the same time, Qatar's assistance has been reduced to a minimum in light of the reconciliation between Doha and Cairo and the categorical demand by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that Qatar not funnel money to Hamas, which has been accused of assisting the jihadist organizations in the Sinai Peninsula.
