BICOM

As the repression and violence in Syria continues, Hamas operatives are quietly quitting the country, according to a report by the Reuters news agency. The Palestinian Islamist movement has long maintained its headquarters in the country, and officially denies that it is planning to relocate. However, according to diplomats quoted by Reuters, the Hamas representation at the Damascus headquarters has shrunk from hundreds of operatives and their families to a skeleton staff of a few dozen. The ongoing violence in Syria, and no less importantly the increasing isolation of the Assad regime in Arab diplomacy, form the backdrop to the Hamas decision. According to the Reuters article, the activists are returning to Gaza via Egypt.

Hamas has been left in a difficult situation by the uprising in Syria. On the one hand, the movement has long benefited from Syrian support and hosting. On the other hand, the Alawi-dominated Syrian regime is currently engaged in a brutal fight against an uprising partially led by Syrian Muslim Brotherhood members – Hamas’s natural comrades. By officially denying any intention of re-locating, while in practice reducing its Damascus presence to a bare minimum, Hamas appears to be trying to maintain its balance in this uncomfortable reality. This may, in part, be because of a report in Haaretz from Palestinian sources that suggests Iran is applying intense pressure on Hamas in an effort to persuade it not to leave Damascus, threatening even to cut off funds to the organisation if it did so. According to the Haaretz report, the Iranian pressure also included an unprecedented ultimatum – namely, an explicit threat to stop supplying Hamas with arms and suspend the training of its military activists.