Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi hosted Hamas officials Basem Naim and Osama Hamdan this week, according to Iranian state media. Iran’s IRNA state media noted that Naim is the “former Health Minister in the Gaza Strip, and Osama Hamdan, [is] a member of Hamas’s politburo.” The meeting is important because Iran has not been publicly hosting major Hamas delegations since Ismail Haniyeh was killed by an exploding pillow while staying at a guest house in Tehran in July 2024.
Now the Hamas leadership is back in Iran for consultations. Hamas leaders mostly reside in Qatar. Most of the Hamas leadership in Gaza has been killed in the war that Hamas launched on October 7, 2023.
Most recently, Mohammed Sinwar was likely killed in an airstrike that hit a bunker under a hospital in Gaza. Hamas is backed by Iran and Turkey, and its leaders are hosted in Qatar, which is a major non-NATO ally of the US. US President Donald Trump was recently in Doha during a trip to the Gulf. Doha has sought to mediate a hostage and ceasefire deal in recent months. However, it appears the recent talks have not had results. As such, the Hamas officials are in Iran.
Iran’s state media says that Naim and Hamdan are in Doha to “review the latest developments in Palestine, particularly the new wave of Israeli crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” The Iranian foreign minister “expressed his appreciation to Hamas for attending the Tehran Dialogue Forum and said the Israeli and American ceasefire plans fail to address Palestinians’ key rights and demands.” The Forum has brought together a number of regional voices, including officials from Iraq, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.
Iran says that it will continue to “supporting Palestine’s resistance and its people against Israeli crimes, particularly through diplomatic efforts in global bodies.” Naim spoke to the Iranians about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
How is the US involved?
Recently, the US has pressured Israel on this issue, and Israel agreed to let limited aid into Gaza after cutting off aid in early March after a ceasefire with Hamas ended. A new US-led initiative is supposed to see private security contractors deployed in Gaza to help protect aid distribution. Hamas has recently praised the UK, Canada, and France for pressuring Israel to end its new offensive in Gaza.
Israel launched the Gideon’s Chariots offensive on March 18 in Gaza. The offensive was approved on May 4 by the Israeli Security Cabinet. The Israeli Air Force has carried out more than 700 strikes in Gaza in the last week, according to a recent IDF statement.
IDF forces are maneuvering in northern Gaza and in other areas. The Hamas members who went to Iran, who don’t live in Gaza, claim that the “resistance groups will remain steadfast against the Israeli regime’s atrocities until a solution is achieved that safeguards the rights and interests of the Palestinian nation.”
The reports in Iranian media noted that “Hamdan praised Iran’s support for Palestine and called on the Islamic countries and the international community to put pressure on the Israeli regime to end genocide in Gaza.‘’
The Hamas officials going to Tehran illustrates that they feel safe there. Hamas doesn’t have a lot of leaders left. Many of them are aging. Among the leaders who are left and who live outside of Gaza; Mohammed Zahar in 1945, Mousa Abu Marzouk and, Fathi Hamad were born in 1951, Khaled Meshaal was born in 1956, Khalil al-Hayya was born in 1960, Fathi Hamad in 1961, Basem Naim was born in 1963, Osama Hamdan and Ghazi Hamid were born in 1965, Husam Badran in 1966 and Zahar Jabarin in 1968.
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