Al Monitor | Ali Hashem:�The head of the Hamas delegation, Saleh Arouri, attends a reconciliation deal signing ceremony, Cairo, Egypt, Oct. 12, 2017.








Just a week after Hamas�agreed to reconcile�with rival Palestinian faction Fatah and curb its relationship with Hezbollah ��an agreement seen by many as a first step necessary to negotiate�peace with Israel � Hamas' No. 2 leader traveled to Tehran to reinforce his group's solidarity with Iran and the anti-Israel "axis of resistance."


The Oct. 19 visit of a�Hamas delegation�led by�Saleh Arouri�to Tehran wasn�t just another visit representing the Palestinian movement, but rather marked a milestone in the relationship that has been revived in the past few months. It was an obvious declaration by the movement and its old-new allies in the Iran-led resistance axis�that a new path is being�drawn, and a new strategy for confrontation�is being set.

It was the second trip to Tehran in a few months by�Arouri, known to be the mastermind of Hamas� military operations in the West Bank. An official source from Hamas told Al-Monitor that on the delegation�s final night in the Iranian capital, it�met with Quds Force Commander�Maj. Gen.�Qasem Soleimani, who stressed that �Iran�s support to the resistance is the main priority now.� Quds Force is part of�Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Arouri also�met�Nov. 1 with Hezbollah�leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon�to discuss the�latest developments. "Both parties stressed the intersection between resistance movements and solidarity against the Zionist aggressions and all that is being plotted�against the resistance movements in the region," a media statement said.�In other words, Hamas and Hezbollah, under the�new Hamas leadership, are becoming closer than before. This also confirms reports that Arouri, who was asked by Qatari authorities months before to leave Qatar, was now based in Beirut.

 



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