Seeking to mend the rift between themselves and Syria's embattled regime, on Friday a senior Hamas official called for the restoration of ties with Damascus which had collapsed following the militant groups departure from Syria after the outbreak of widespread violence in 2011.
In an interview with Lebanon's Daily Star, Raafat Murra, representative of Hamas' Beirut bureau denied any falling out with Assad and insisted that Hamas had no stake in his overthrow.
Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, belongs to the Sunni denomination of Islam, but has collaborated with the Alawite-Shi'ite regime in Damascus as well as Shi'ite Hezbollah and their co-coreligionist sponsor, Iran, who has armed both in the past.
Murra also spoke on the current relationship between Hamas and Hezbollah. After Hamas' souring of relations with Syria, it's previously strong links with Hezbollah also came under scrutiny.
According to Murra "there is no hostility or a break [in ties] between the Hamas movement and Hezbollah. We are keen on understanding based on Palestine, the resistance and confronting the Zionist dangers."
Meanwhile Hamas has also sought to draw attention to what it says is an impending official visit to Tehran which is meant to reinforce it's relationship with the Islamic State. There has been no word from the Islamic Republic on such a visit nor reports of any representative of the Gaza-based militant in Iran.
