IRGC Rejects Advisor's Statements Regarding Hamas

Two days after Khosrow Arouj, senior advisor to the Commander of the IRGC, accused Hamas leaders of seeking reconciliation and agreement with Israel, the IRGC's public relations department issued a statement rejecting the attribution of this interpretation to the IRGC and denied the issue of Hamas's reconciliation. According to Mehr News Agency, the IRGC's public relations stated on Monday, July 21, that the 'approach of reconciliation and negotiation' makes Israel 'more greedy' and emphasized that 'there is no doubt that the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, which inflicted a severe blow and humiliating defeat on the Zionist regime in the 22-day, 51-day, and 8-day wars, is at the forefront of the resistance and anti-Zionist struggle of the Palestinian nation.' The statement further added that 'the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announces its positions and views in the form of official statements or through the Commander-in-Chief, the representative of the Supreme Leader, and the public relations of this institution, and considers other comments on various issues as personal and unofficial views.' The IRGC's public relations statement was released after Khosrow Arouj, senior advisor to Mohammad Ali Jafari, the Commander of the IRGC, stated in an interview with Mehr News Agency on Saturday: 'We thought that Hamas had raised the banner of struggle to eliminate Israel, but now we see they are saying other things.' He added: 'Now, almost Hamas, the most well-known Palestinian fighting group, is negotiating with Israel in Turkey and wants to enter into multiple agreements with it.' According to the senior advisor to the IRGC Commander, 'Hamas and Fatah sit in meetings and negotiate with those who support fake Islamic armies, like Turkey and Saudi Arabia; these countries cooperate with Israel at all levels.' Arouj's remarks came after Ismail Haniyeh, the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, stated on Wednesday during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Gaza that Hamas is not thinking about a new war with Israel but is seeking a new deal with Israel; however, it has conditions for this. Haniyeh's reference is to reports that Israeli media published in recent days regarding a deal with Hamas. These reports indicated that after the reconciliation two weeks ago between Israel and Turkey, the Ankara government is mediating between Hamas and Israel, including for the return of the bodies of two soldiers and two living Arab and Ethiopian Israeli citizens captured by Hamas in Gaza. According to Haniyeh, for the new deal between Hamas and Israel to take place, Israel must first release all security prisoners who were freed in the 2011 deal for the release of Gilad Shalit but were imprisoned again. The strong relations between Hamas and the Islamic Republic of Iran soured after disagreements over the Syrian civil war, but both sides have made efforts to revive their previous relations. In this context, a senior IRGC official accused the Hamas movement of reconciling with Israel. The full resumption of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel was noted, and Fatah and Hamas held each other responsible for the failure of the Doha negotiations.