What’s behind Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's foreign tour?
The Hamas delegation returned to the Gaza Strip from a foreign tour in which it sought further support for the Palestinian cause from the international community.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In an interview with Al-Mayadeen Jan. 10, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a member of Hamas' politburo, said it was very normal for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to meet with the new leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to discuss the continuation of relations between Tehran and the Islamic movement in Palestine.
Zahar denied allegations that Egypt had banned Haniyeh from returning to the Gaza Strip because of his visit to Tehran, stressing that the Israeli news to this effect is an attempt to incite Egypt into preventing him from doing so.
The Hamas delegation had arrived in the Gaza Strip on Jan. 5 following a weekslong tour to multiple countries, including Qatar, Turkey and Malaysia. Haniyeh did not return but headed instead on Jan. 6 to Tehran to participate in the funeral of slain Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad on Jan. 4.
Egypt allowed Haniyeh to go on a tour for the first time in two years since he took office in 2017.
