Nearly a year after the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, the IDF revealed today (Friday) new documents indicating that Hamas has worked over the years to maintain close ties with the Syrian regime - despite its public disavowal of its actions.
The documents, which include letters, protocols, and internal communications, were revealed by the Intelligence Directorate (IDF Intelligence) on the IDF website, showing direct connections between senior Hamas officials - including Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh - and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, as well as representatives of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
In a letter sent by Sinwar to Haniyeh in July 2022, he emphasized that Hamas "has never decided to boycott the Syrian regime in practice" and claimed that the movement’s leadership left Syria due to "time constraints and the situation." He stated that the Syrians had treated them "in the best possible way all along."
Sinwar clarified the strategic importance of renewing the connection with Damascus, which he referred to as "an essential arena for us as a sanctuary base and a space for construction and deployment," noting that this would allow Hamas to integrate into the "Jerusalem Axis" - the Iranian axis.
A month later, in August 2022, a meeting took place between senior Hamas officials, Hezbollah, and Iranian Revolutionary Guards representative Saeed Izadi - who was later eliminated in Operation ‘Rising Lion.’ The meeting discussed formulating a mechanism to renew relations with Assad and ways to reduce public criticism of the cooperation.
According to the protocol from that meeting, it was decided to invite additional Palestinian Arab figures to meet with Assad, in order to "blur the centrality of Hamas in the process." Additionally, it was determined that from that point onward, "meetings with the Syrian president would not be covered in the media."
In another letter from September 2022, Haniyeh thanked Nasrallah for mediating the meeting with Assad and even requested that a message be conveyed to the Syrian president regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Syria, "in order to reduce the criticism of renewing the connection." However, Haniyeh emphasized that this was not a demand - but only a request, "and not a condition for continuing the partnership."
Furthermore, an article written by a Sheikh affiliated with the Hamas leadership is presented, in which he sharply criticizes Arab countries that condemn the cooperation with Assad: "They expect Hamas to stand against Iran in Iraq, against Bashar al-Assad in Syria, against the Houthis... This is a strategic decline that will lead to the collapse of Hamas."
IDF Intelligence concludes that while Hamas publicly condemned Assad following the massacres, behind the scenes it worked to deepen the connection and relied on Syria as an essential anchor in the Iranian axis. The exposure, as emphasized by the IDF, highlights how much Hamas feared the fall of the regime in Damascus - which was considered a key point in Iran's regional influence infrastructure.