Hamas Unveils Homes Built with Iranian Funds

The Hamas movement is building homes in the Gaza Strip for Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails with funds from Iran. According to a report by AFP, the minister responsible for Palestinian prisoners in the Hamas government in Gaza announced on Thursday, January 17, the allocation of newly constructed homes in the enclave for a number of released Palestinian prisoners. He stated that in the first phase of this plan, 26 apartments were given to prisoners whose names were randomly selected from among 125 released prisoners. These homes are built in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The Hamas government minister added that housing for the released prisoners in the under-construction homes will have further phases, including in the northern part of Gaza, to alleviate the 'suffering of these prisoners.' According to AFP, Hamas officials confirmed that other projects will be implemented with Iranian funds. Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are mostly individuals who were part of armed Palestinian groups, with some having been involved in killing Israelis. Based on data published in Israel, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other armed Palestinian groups currently have 6,154 security prisoners in Israeli jails, a significant decrease from the 10,866 prisoners in the spring of 2009. The highest number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails was recorded in the fall of 2007, with about 24,000 individuals. Israel has consistently stated that a large percentage of released Palestinian security prisoners return to armed activities under the umbrella of their organizations and even become more radicalized. The Palestinian Authority, which rivals Hamas and has been unable to reclaim governance in Gaza from Hamas, recently stated that both Iran is assisting Hamas and Qatar is providing hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas through direct intervention from the Israeli government. Armed Palestinian groups also financially and morally support these released prisoners in hopes of attracting their cooperation after their release from Israeli prisons; most Hamas officials are themselves released security prisoners from Israeli jails. The existence of a large number of current and released Palestinian prisoners, along with their problems and those of their families, is such that both the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza always have a ministry dedicated to addressing these individuals in their governments. Hamas has held power in Gaza since 2007 and has been involved in three highly destructive and costly military operations against Israel since 2008. The housing project for Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli detention centers with Iranian funds in Gaza was announced less than a month after a senior Palestinian delegation returned from Tehran. Mahmoud al-Zahar, a former foreign minister in the Hamas government, recently met with various officials in Tehran, including Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister. Two delegations from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad also visited Tehran in recent weeks, and Ziad al-Nakhalah, the new secretary-general of this organization, and his deputy met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, two weeks ago. Iran provides financial aid, weapons, and military training to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Hossein Ashtari, the commander of Iran's police forces, emphasized two weeks ago in a meeting with Ziad al-Nakhalah the readiness of his forces to provide military training to the 'Resistance Front' militants. Iran's new aid to 'alleviate the suffering' of former Palestinian prisoners comes at a time when many Iranians in recent months have opposed giving Iranian public funds to Palestinians, especially given the current dire economic situation in Iran, through social media campaigns such as 'No to the Khomeini Relief Committee Fund.' Iran's economy has been in crisis, especially after recent U.S. sanctions; according to Fars News Agency, Mohammad Islami, Iran's new housing minister, stated this week: '80% of the income of homeless people in Iran is spent on rent... and the decisive issue for our people right now is housing, and they want homes.' While Iran's cooperation with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and other 'Resistance Front' groups has strengthened in recent weeks, the 40-year enmity between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel, especially over Iran's military presence in Syria and what Israel calls its 'concerns' over Tehran's nuclear program and missile plans, has deepened. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, and General Aviv Kochavi, the new Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, stated this week that the Iranian regime is 'the most central' target for Israel. On the other hand, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said on Wednesday that Israel should be afraid from the day precision missiles land on it.