Relations between Hamas and Saudi Arabia are frosty, although several figures in the kingdom’s religious current had expected the ice to melt between both countries. As soon as King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud acceded to the throne in January 2015, the kingdom was overcome by a wave of popular mobilization, which bet on Saudi Arabia’s openness to political Islam groups like Hamas. Consequently, Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, visited Saudi Arabia in July 2015 and met with Salman. But Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir undermined the visit and said it had a religious context, specifically to perform umrah (a pilgrimage to Mecca), and they did not tackle any political dimensions.
In a phone call with Al-Monitor from Riyadh, Minister of State for Arabian Gulf Affairs at the Foreign Ministry Thamer al-Sabhan stressed that his county deals with states, not movements and organizations, thus explaining the lack of communication between Riyadh and Hamas. The kingdom supports the Palestinian Authority (PA) directly and has a more comprehensive stance that complies with international charters, which ban cooperation with any nonstate actors, according to Sabhan.
Sabhan added that Iran — through its support for Hamas, which represents the Palestinian resistance — did not triumph over Saudi Arabia in winning over Islamic public opinion. Sabhan accused Tehran of being completely nonchalant to the Palestinian cause and seeking to achieve personal interests by dividing Fatah and Hamas and foiling Arab efforts that aim to unite all Palestinians. He asserted that even though Saudi Arabia has halted support for Hamas, it remains committed to supporting the Palestinian budget through the PA.
On Feb. 13, Hamas elected Yahya Sanwar, a member of the movement’s military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, as leader for the movement in the Gaza Strip. Sanwar has strong ties with Iran that go beyond Sunni-Shiite sectarian conflicts in the region. By voting for him, it seems Hamas opted for the armed option. The movement is thus tending toward Tehran, which is unparalleled in its training and funding potential in the Arab world.
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