Is Syria’s al-Assad supporting Hamas for political gain or optics? – By Andrew Waller (Al Jazeera) / Dec 10, 2023
As Syria slowly reentered the Arab fold, it mended relations with Hamas, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much.
The regional fallout from Israel’s war on Gaza has drawn renewed attention to the so-called “resistance axis” – an alliance of sorts between Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.
But while Hezbollah and Iran have been visibly active since October 7, the Syrian regime has played a more muted role in support of its on-again, off-again ally, Hamas.
My enemy’s enemy
It was only in October of last year that Hamas formally re-established ties with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, more than a decade after they fell out in the early years of the Syrian civil war when Hamas threw its lot in with the Syrian opposition’s revolution.
The reconciliation was reportedly encouraged by Hezbollah and Iran in part to counter the growing number of Arab governments normalising their relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords.
