A Middle Eastern news portal is reporting in Arabic that Hezbollah and Hamas have issued a joint statement which says that the two sides agree that Syria remains united in facing the ‘Zionist-American plan’ in the region, and stands against foreign intervention. It was also agreed to strengthen the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon by holding meetings to coordinate all Palestinian resistance factions, both Islamist and nationalist. A call was issued to the leaders of all political parties/factions/groups and religious scholars to end sectarianism, which “only serves the enemy”. The statement was issued following a meeting which took place in Lebanon on June 15 between a Hamas delegation and Hasan Hubb Allah, the Hezbollah figure responsible for Palestinian affairs.
The tension between Hezbollah and Hamas is palpable. The Syrian crisis has shaken the pillars of their strategic alliance, without completely demolishing them. Yet, Palestine is still their compass, and so is the resistance project against Israel — even if both parties have their own terms and considerations. While the two leaderships make sure to maintain contact, their disputes rarely go public. However, the rumors that spread from time to time merely show the tip of the iceberg in regard to the rift between both parties.
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The Hamas charter says that it is “one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine” and soon after Hamas took over the Gaza strip, Muslim Brotherhood representatives traveled to Gaza from Egypt through the newly-opened border to review Hamas military formations. A Hamas journalist has acknowledged the role that the “international Muslim Brotherhood” has played in providing funds for the purchase of weapons and Hamas is known to be supported financially and politically by the global Muslim Brotherhood. A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman revealed that a coalition of London-based Muslim groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, were behind the mass demonstrations staged to protest Israeli actions in the 2008 Gaza war and the Global Muslim Brotherhood and its Turkish affiliates were also intimately involved, along with the Turkish government, in the June 2010 Gaza flotilla that was involved in a violent altercation with Israeli naval forces.