By William Tucker
The political leadership of Hamas has left Syria for Qatar and Egypt. According to Hamas, the group’s chief, Khaled Meshaal, has moved to Doha and his deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, is located in Cairo. This move by Hamas shows that the split between Syrian President Bashir Assad and the militant group is likely permanent. For Hamas, this wasn’t an easy choice. By leaving Syria, and thus cutting ties to the Assad regime, Hamas will lose the current level of support from Iran. This situation has already been acknowledged by Hamas’ leadership. What this means is that Hamas will lose the bulk of its funding and may not be able to pay its government employees in Gaza. Whether or not this will empower Fatah is yet to be seen, but it does present an opening. On the other hand, the public presence of Hamas in Egypt cannot be ignored.
Egypt is not in any real position to force its will on Hamas, but that could change as the Muslim Brotherhood’s different factions gain political power. Hamas may be a Palestinian organization, but it is a faction of the Muslim Brotherhood, and thus, has deeps roots in Egypt. Currently, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is still running the show in Cairo and the Brotherhood is split politically. But as the military gives up power it is quite possible that the Brotherhood will begin to coalesce into a more centralized movement. If this does occur, this will, in turn, empower factions of the Brotherhood in other states like Jordan, and of course, Syria. There are still a lot of moving parts in this, but Hamas’ move is certainly noteworthy and worth watching.
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