Arabic media sources are reporting that a Hamas leader has called on Syrian and Lebanon to establish military cells under the control of Hamas in order to “run the resistance from northern Palestine.” According to a MEMRI translation, one of the sources reported that during the recent Gaza conflict, rockets had been launched into Israel from Lebanon by elements operated by the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades:
February 17, 2015 Special Dispatch No.5966 At a February 4, 2015 political conference in Gaza, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahar, from the Hamas political leadership, called on Syria and Lebanon to enable the establishment of military cells subordinate to Hamas’s military wing, the ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, in refugee camps on their soil ‘so that they can run the resistance from northern Palestine [as well]and participate with us in its liberation.'[1]
This statement by a high-ranking Hamas official shows that the movement intends to open a second front against Israel from Syria and Lebanon, which it has thus far refrained from doing.
Following Al-Zahar’s statements, ‘Emad Zaqout, news division chief at Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV, wrote in an article titled ‘What is the Secret of Dr. Al-Zahar’s Statement?’ that Hamas wants every conflict with Israel to be all-out, and to include attacks on Israel from its northern border as well. Zaqout even revealed that during the recent Gaza conflict, rockets had been launched into Israel from Lebanon by elements operated by the Al-Qassam Brigades.
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In October 2014, the GMBDW reported that Hamas was in the process of repairing one of the tunnels damaged by the Israeli military during the recent Gaza conflict. In August 2014, during the most recent Gaza conflict, the GMBDW reported on both the tunnel-digging unit of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades and the high-technology supplied by Qatar for the tunnels.
The Hamas charter says that it is “one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine.”
For more on Hamas, go here.