Haniyeh’s visit signals Hamas seeks stronger Iranian alliance
Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh's busy schedule when he visited Iran for the funeral of Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani indicates Hamas seeks to forge a deeper alliance with Iran and obtain additional support.
The US assassination Jan. 3 of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani has been a bombshell in the news. Yet Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh’s visit Jan. 6 to Iran for Soleimani's funeral is creating quite a stir itself in the Middle East.
Haniyeh, who hadn't visited Iran since 2012, was accompanied this time by a Hamas leadership delegation. He was the only non-Iranian figure to speak at the funeral, and Soleimani's daughter mentioned Haniyeh, along with other Iranian allies, as figures who will avenge her father’s killing.
Soleimani contributed greatly to Hamas' power, but Haniyeh affirmed that the Palestinian resistance won't break down with his passing. In fact, Haniyeh and his delegation met that same day with Soleimani's successor, Esmail Ghaani.
Speaking to Al-Monitor, Khaled Qaddoumi, Hamas' representative to Iran, said Soleimani's "support for the Palestinian resistance was unlimited."
