Regional developments accelerate Hamas-Hezbollah reconciliation
Hamas and Hezbollah leaders have recently held meetings in Beirut, suggesting an end to their cold dispute over the Syrian war, as the Gulf-Qatari crisis continues.
After a five-year estrangement over their dispute on the Syrian crisis, Hamas and Hezbollah have held meetings in Beirut over the past few months to discuss the region's latest developments.
Their most recent meeting June 14 — attended by Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, and Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah — has important implications, as it ends the lukewarm relations between the two sides since 2012. The meeting comes after Gulf countries imposed a blockade on Qatar, followed by talks about Hamas officials leaving Qatar, all of which impacts the Palestinian cause as a whole.
Al-Monitor contacted a number of officials from Hamas and Hezbollah to gain insight on the nature of their recent discussions, but they refused to publicly speak about their meetings, as they wish to achieve this bilateral rapprochement away from the media spotlight. However, they did confirm that serious steps are being taken to bring Hamas and Hezbollah closer together, without giving further details.
An Arab diplomat who had a hand in this rapprochement told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “Since the beginning of 2017, Hamas and Hezbollah held three meetings in Beirut — in January, March and June — under the chairmanship of Abu Marzouk and some members of the movement's political bureau with Nasrallah and the Hezbollah leadership. The most important incentive for their meetings was Donald Trump becoming president of the United States and classifying both Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.”
