GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported Jan. 23 that Hamas is seeking to set up a military force in the Syrian Golan Heights to fire rockets at Israel. The broadcaster quoted Israeli security sources as saying that Iran had instructed Hamas to set up a force in the Golan Heights in order to strike Israel from the north.

Hamas is yet to comment on the report. Contacted by Al-Monitor, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem refused to make any comment, but Palestinian security experts and political analysts believe that the timing of the announcement conveys Israeli political messages to a number of international parties such as Russia and the United States.

This Israeli announcement came a few days after Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said in an interview with the Makor Rishon website Jan. 19, “Hamas is having trouble carrying out attacks from the Gaza Strip, which is why it is trying to do so from the West Bank while developing the necessary infrastructure in southern Lebanon to target Israel therefrom.”

Hisham al-Maghari, a security expert and the dean of Al-Awda University College in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, “Israel's claim that Hamas is working to set up a military force in the Golan Heights is inconsistent with the movement’s declared policy as far as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is concerned.”