On the second anniversary of the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who was killed Jan. 3, 2020, near Baghdad International Airport by a US drone, Hamas participated in a commemoration ceremony that the Palestinian Committee held on International Quds Day in Gaza City. Speaking on behalf of Hamas, head of its politburo Ismail Haniyeh had called Soleimani the “martyr of Jerusalem” during the movement’s participation in his funeral procession in Tehran Jan. 6, 2020.
On Jan. 3, Hamas politburo member Mahmoud al-Zahar said in his speech on behalf of the Palestinian factions during Soleimani’s commemoration ceremony, “Qasem Soleimani did not differentiate between the separate Islamic sects. He was the first to fund the resistance government formed after the 2006 elections to pay the salaries of its employees, aid poor families and back the resistance programs.”
In an interview on the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel Jan. 2, Haniyeh confirmed that “Iran was the main funder for the plan of defense for Gaza after the 2009 war to build the resistance bases including missiles, tunnels and anti-armors. The plan funds amounted to a lump sum of $70 million and significantly shifted the resistance potential, which appeared in the 2012 war. For the first time, Hamas managed to strike Tel Aviv with a 75-km range missile in reaction to Israel’s assassination of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades leader in Gaza Ahmed al-Jabari.”
The roots of relations between Hamas and Iran date back to 1990 when a Hamas delegation visited Iran three years after the founding of Hamas at the end of 1987. Following the visit, a diplomatic representation office for Hamas was opened in Iran in 1992, constituting an Iranian recognition of Hamas’ central role in Palestine.
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