Qassem Soleimani's Congratulatory Message to Haniyeh on His Election as Hamas President

Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, congratulated Ismail Haniyeh on his election as the new head of Hamas's political bureau and emphasized the "continuation of the jihadist line until the liberation of Al-Aqsa Mosque and all of Palestine." Iranian and regional media reported on Wednesday, May 24, that Soleimani wrote in his message to Haniyeh: "We are committed to strengthening relations with our friends in Hamas, who are our allies in the axis of resistance, in order to restore the Palestinian issue to its rightful place." Ismail Haniyeh was elected a few weeks ago in an internal election, succeeding Khaled Mashal, who had led Hamas's political bureau for twenty years. In his message, Soleimani spoke of the "necessity of focusing all efforts on the Palestinian issue." The message from one of the strongest military figures of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Haniyeh came just one day after the conclusion of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. On Tuesday, Trump met with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, in Bethlehem. This meeting was their second in three weeks; few leaders in the world have had the opportunity for a second meeting with the U.S. president since Trump took office. Abbas, who is also the leader of the Fatah movement, expressed hope during the Bethlehem meeting that Trump would be the U.S. president whose name would be recorded in history as the one who brought about Israeli-Palestinian peace. Hamas was established 29 years ago in the Palestinian territories to compete with Fatah; to this day, this rivalry and Hamas's severe criticism of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, which governs only the West Bank, continue. Hamas has harshly criticized the Palestinian Authority's positions and Fatah following Abbas's recent meetings with Trump. During his visit to Israel and the West Bank, Trump stated that ISIS, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas are terrorist groups that cause suffering and bloodshed. It seems that Soleimani intended to send a congratulatory message to Haniyeh to emphasize that Iran's arms can once again be open to Hamas. The Syrian civil war distanced Hamas, which had been close to Iran since its establishment in 1989, from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Syria. Khaled Mashal, the then-political secretary of Hamas, and Ismail Haniyeh, who had been Hamas's prime minister in the Gaza Strip for years, had emphasized that Hamas would adhere to the views of the Muslim Brotherhood and refrain from intervening at Iran's request to support Bashar al-Assad's regime. During the Syrian civil war, Hamas not only supported some Syrian opponents but also trained them. Syria expelled Khaled Mashal and sealed Hamas's offices, killing or expelling many active Palestinians or Hamas supporters. Following their expulsion from Syria, Mashal and Hamas leaders have lived in Qatar in recent years. Nevertheless, Ismail Haniyeh has refrained from going to Qatar and has remained in Gaza after his recent election as head of Hamas's political bureau. In his message to Haniyeh, Soleimani also congratulated the election of Yahya Sinwar as the internal leader of Hamas. Sinwar was elected to lead the movement in Gaza three months ago. In this context, future negotiations of Hamas with Arab and Western countries regarding the new charter are anticipated. Trump stated that the U.S. or any other country cannot impose peace on the Palestinians or Israelis. Islamic Jihad expressed concern regarding Hamas's approach in the new charter. Trump's flight from Riyadh to Tel Aviv signifies the consolidation of regional countries' interests against Iran. The changing battlefield of "proxies" indicates a war against the people in the streets of Iran. The first paragraph discusses the responsibility of opponents and the possibility of radicalization in Iranian society. The last representative of Mossad in Tehran passed away amid the Iranian crisis. 1300 hours of internet outages; Witkoff: A horrific massacre occurred during the protests in Iran.