PNN – A Hebrew media outlet has claimed that the Hamas movement is relocating its main offices from Qatar to Turkey.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network the Maariv newspaper reported on Saturday that Hamas leaders are moving to Turkey after 14 years, and the country is becoming the movement’s most important base outside Gaza.
The report continues: Quietly and unobtrusively, the Hamas leadership is closing the Qatar chapter of its history.
Leaders of the movement—foremost among them Khalil al-Hayya, the head of the political bureau—relocated their base of operations to Istanbul over the past year, leaving behind only a small, low-level delegation in Doha.
There are several reasons for this departure; one is the stance of the Qataris, who seek to expand their relations with the West—particularly the United States (as the primary backer of the Zionist regime).
Another factor is the aggressive move Israel made against Doha last year, which revealed that Qatar’s air defense systems were rendered ineffective against the incursion due to modifications previously made by the United States.
Furthermore, relations have recently soured with Khalil al-Hayya, the head of the political bureau; following his appointment to the position about three weeks ago, his presence in Doha came to be viewed as something imposed or forced upon the situation.
This is not the first time the Hamas leadership has relocated. They initially moved to Amman (the Jordanian capital), and after being expelled from there in 1999 on the orders of Abdullah II, they settled in Damascus; however, following the outbreak of the war in Syria, they fell out with Bashar al-Assad and moved to Doha, and are now heading to Turkey.
Turkey is no longer merely a hub for Hamas’s political office; Palestinian prisoners released in the exchange following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood have also been exiled there. Most of them are members of Hamas’s military wing, and some will undoubtedly seek to continue their military activities.
In Turkey, they met with many members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood who had sought refuge there after fleeing their country en masse following the ousting of Mohamed Morsi.