The obvious impact of the agreement between Tehran and Riyadh on the relations between Saudi Arabia and Hamas.
The improvement of relations between Tehran and Riyadh has had an obvious positive effect on the relations between Saudi Arabia and the Hamas movement, and a high-ranking delegation from this movement visited Saudi Arabia for the second time in the last 2 months.
After the first visit of the leaders of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas to Saudi Arabia last April, the deadlock that had been created for several years in the relations between this movement and Riyadh was broken and yesterday a delegation from this movement headed by “Ismail Haniyeh” traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj.
By publishing a note, the “Palestine Al-Yum” website considered the thawing of relations between Hamas and Riyadh to be the clear effect of the agreement on the resumption of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia and wrote that a delegation from the Hamas movement headed by Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of this movement, accompanied by ” Khalid Meshaal, Saleh al-Arouri, Ezzat al-Rashq, and Khalil al-Hiya, among other leaders of this movement, traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj rituals.
This trip takes place after years of tension in Riyadh’s relations with Hamas and despite the arrest of a number of Hamas leaders and members in Saudi Arabia in the past years.
Palestinian author and political analyst Mustafa Al-Sawaf say: Today’s visit of the Hamas delegation to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj rituals is an attempt by Saudi Arabia and Hamas to resume relations, and it coincides with the first meetings of Hamas leaders with Saudi officials in Riyadh.
He clarified: “It seems that the relations between the two sides are moving in the right direction and within the framework of understandings that have not been announced publicly and are part of the intimate relations between them.”
This analyst added: “The resumption of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran has had a clear impact on this matter and has had a positive effect on the relations between Saudi Arabia and Hamas, as evidenced by the visit of Hamas leaders to Saudi Arabia in April and the performance of Umrah rituals and The freedom of a number of its members in Saudi Arabia and then the new trip of the leaders of this movement to Saudi Arabia.
He further predicted that in the future, the relations between Saudi Arabia and Hamas will have more surprises and that there will be more sincere joint meetings between them.
Regarding the relations of the Hamas movement with foreign countries, he added: “The Hamas movement has gradually distanced itself from its current policy and is pursuing a more developed policy, and it has also made achievements in this field. These achievements are in the early stages and require more efforts to strengthen relations with Arab and international countries that do not have hope for the previous policies of Hamas.
Before the resumption of relations between Hamas and Riyadh in April 2023, the last visit of a delegation from Hamas to Riyadh dates back to 2015 and the meeting of Khalid Meshaal, the head of the political office of Hamas at the time, with King Salman and a number of Saudi officials in the city of Mecca.
Saudi Arabia had good relations with Hamas, but these relations had been cold and tense for several years. In May 2017, a meeting of Arab and Islamic leaders was held in Riyadh with the presence of the United States, and at that time, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, declared Hamas a “terrorist”.
