President Basher al-Assad received a delegation comprising a number of leaders and representatives of the Palestinian forces and factions, including leaders from Hamas.
According to the official Syrian presidential channel on Telegram, the Palestinian delegation included the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziad Nakhaleh, the Secretary-General of the Popular Front to Liberate Palestine-General Command, Dr. Talal Naji, the Secretary-General of the As-Sa’iqa Organization, Dr. Muhammad Qais, and the Secretary-General of the Fatah Al-Intifada Movement, Ziad Al-Saghir, Deputy Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Jamil Mezher, Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Fahd Suleiman, Secretary-General of the Popular Struggle Front Khaled Abdel Majid, Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Front Youssef Muqdah, Member of the Hamas Political Office Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya, and the Palestinian Ambassador In Syria, Dr. Samir Al-Rifai.
President Bashar al-Assad affirmed that Syria stayed still in supporting the resistance despite the war waged on it.
“This is based on the Syrian people’s principles and firm belief in the resistance from one hand, and out of the interest on the other hand, which requires to be with the resistance.”
“The resistance is not a point of view, but rather a principle and basis for restoring rights, and Syria as it has always been known before the war and after will remain supportive of the resistance.” President al-Assad added.
The discussion tackled the results of the reconciliation talks conducted among the Palestinian parties in Algeria over the past few days, in addition to means of enhancing these reconciliations to keep pace with the escalating popular situation in the face of the Israeli occupation and its continuing crimes in the Palestinian territories.
President al-Assad considered that the importance of Algeria Reconciliation Talks stems from its results represented by Palestinians’ unity which is the basis of work in serving the Palestinian Cause, underscoring that the unity of the Palestinian rank is the basis of its strength in confronting the occupation and restoring rights.
President al-Assad went on to say that all attempts aimed at erasing this Cause from the conscience of the new generations in the Arab region have never succeeded and will never succeed. What is happening across all the Palestinian lands proves that these generations are still committed to their Palestinian identity.
The delegation members, on their part, asserted that Syria is a cornerstone and represents the knot that holds the axis of resistance and all of the Palestinian people, affirming that Palestinian factions value Syria’s role, importance and sacrifices.
They also consider Syria as Palestine’s strategic depth. Thus, all Palestinian factions and political parties stand side by side with Syria in confronting international aggression and the U.S. and Zionist project.
New chapter
After the meeting, some members of the delegation, headed by Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya, held a press conference in which he stressed that the decision of Hamas to return to Damascus was taken within the movement unanimously, stressing that it was with the blessing and encouragement of Qatar and Turkey.
Regarding the reports of differences among the movement’s leaders on the decision to restore relations with the Syrian state, Al-Hayya affirmed that there is now consensus among the Hamas members on this decision, stressing that “all the old mistakes have been closed and we have opened a new page.”
COMMENT FROM THE OBSERVER
Hamas was one of Bashar Al-Assad’s closest allies but left Syria in 2012 after condemning his regime’s brutal suppression of peaceful protests in March 2011, which triggered the country’s descent into civil war.
The visit by the Hamas delegation, headed by Arab relations chief Khalil Al-Hayya, comes after the Islamist group signed a reconciliation deal with its Palestinian rival Fatah in Algiers last week, vowing to hold elections by next October in a bid to settle a 15-year rift.
A senior Hamas source told Al-Araby al-Jadeed, the thaw between Hamas and the Assad regime was brokered by Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
