Hamas says it could 'reopen office in Damascus', despite recent Assad criticism

Hamas announced on Sunday its intention to reopen its office in Damascus, despite recent comments by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad accusing the Palestinian group of “betrayal and hypocrisy”.

Several Palestinian media outlets, including Al-Quds Al-Araby, quoted Musa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, as saying that their office will be open in Damascus “in the near future”, adding “there will be a representative there”.

Hamas closed its office in Damascus in 2012 following the Assad regime’s brutal crushing of peaceful Syrian protests and the killed hundreds of Palestinians in the indiscriminate regime shelling of the Yarmouk refugee camp. 

Hamas, which controls the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, expressed sympathy towards the Syrian uprising against Assad.

The movement's leaders Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh were even seen in videos carrying the Syrian revolutionary flag.

Since then, Assad has repeatedly denounced Hamas, most recently during an August 9 interview with Sky News Arabia, during which he accused it of “betrayal and hypocrisy”.

In the interview, he said of Hamas: “How can somebody claiming 'resistance' stand with an occupation that resulted from American and Turkish occupation and Israeli aggression under the flag of a French occupier?”

Syria hosts hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees and the Assad regime has killed hundreds of them at Yarmouk and other locations since the Syrian uprising began in 2011. It also continues to imprison and torture hundreds more. 

The regime has now managed to regain control of most territory once held by opposition forces, with crucial backing from Iran and Russia, who maintain a presence on the ground in Syria.

Despite Assad’s criticism of the group he didn’t shut the door on possible reconciliation with Hamas.

He qualified his criticism by saying he was talking only about “the leaders of Hamas” and that he “stands with every Palestinian group” that resists Israel. Last year, a delegation of Hamas officials travelled to Damascus, amid  condemnation from Gazans and the Syrian opposition. 

Assad however didn't go as far as committing to the reopening of Hamas offices in Damascus in his most recent interview, saying “it’s too early to talk about such a thing … the battles inside Syria are our priority.”