First Hamas delegation to visit Saudi Arabia in over ten years

Ismail Haniyeh and other Palestinian leaders will visit Riyadh on Monday to talk about easing tensions that have existed for years.

According to Palestinian media sources, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, will make his first trip to Saudi Arabia in years on Monday.

After years of tense relations with the kingdom, which has detained numerous individuals with connections to the group, a top delegation from the group will travel to Riyadh.

The team is anticipated to speak with Saudi officials on a host of Palestinian and regional concerns as well as bilateral ties between Hamas and the kingdom, however there has been no formal confirmation of the trip from Riyadh.

Palestinian captives in Saudi Arabia will be the main topic of discussion, Palestinian media outlets claim.

According to numerous Palestinian and Arabic-language media outlets, the high-level delegation consists of Hamas politburo chief Haniyeh, his assistant Saleh al-Arouri, and the leader of the organization abroad, Khaled Meshaal.

According to reports, the team will first make a trip to Mecca, the holiest place in Islam.

Since the “Islamic resistance movement” Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, relations between Riyadh and the organisation have been tense. The failure of attempts at reconciliation between Hamas and the dominant Fatah party in the Palestinian Authority has been attributed to Hamas by Saudi leaders.

Regardless of name or location, Hamas is not a part of any political or military axis, stated Mousa Abu Marzouk, a member of the organization’s political bureau, on Twitter on Saturday. We are an Islamic resistance movement that seeks to cooperate with all active forces operating in the area and around the globe.

The tweet, which was published right before a meeting with the Saudi government, may have also been intended to dispel Riyadh’s notion that Hamas is too close to Iran.

Two Palestinians with close ties to Hamas were released from prison by Saudi authorities earlier this year.

Nearly 68 Palestinians and Jordanians were detained in 2019 on suspicion of having ties to an unspecified “terrorist organization,” including Suleiman Haddad and his son Yahya Haddad.

The group was given prison sentences ranging from six months to 22 years after being tried in mass trials in 2020.

Izzat al-Rashq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, welcomed Saudi Arabia after the release and called it “a significant step in the right direction.”

After more than three years in custody, Saudi Arabia also freed the former Hamas representative in October of last year.

Hani al-Khudari, his son, and 84-year-old Mohammed al-Khudari were both freed and sent to Jordan.

Since the founding of Hamas more than 30 years ago, Saudi Arabia and the organization have a tight relationship. Many of the movement’s founders and close friends resided in the Gulf state, where significant fundraising efforts were made for the movement and its charity organizations, some with official Saudi approval.

Leaders of Hamas have hinted recently that they want to repair their relationship with the kingdom. In response, captives were freed by Saudi Arabia.

Hopes that Saudi Arabia may establish diplomatic ties with Israel are likely to be dashed by the kingdom’s strengthening connections with Hamas. In light of the current bloodshed in the West Bank, recent reports in US media indicate that Riyadh has changed its mind about the concept.