AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A high-ranking delegation of Hamas arrived in Beirut on Sunday led by the Palestinian resistance movement’s leader Ismail Haniyeh who met Lebanese leaders. Given the meetings and issues raised during the talks between the Hamas delegation and Lebanese officials, the visit carries symbolic messages and political and operational signals about the future of the Palestine’s developments that makes it important.
Lebanon-Palestine common interests
Welcoming Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' political bureau, as head of a branch of the Axis of Resistance and the enemy of the Israeli regime, is in no way favorable to the Arab and Western actors influential in Lebanon developments, especially Saudi Arabia and the US. Open reception to Haniyeh and emphasis on cooperation and cohesion of the Resistance camp by the Lebanese politicians indicates that Lebanon's developments are not in line with the American and Saudi policies and interests. In fact, today, among most Lebanese political factions that have a nationalist approach, the need to support the Palestinian cause and resistance in the face of the Israeli regime is deemed in line with Lebanese national interests and security. In turn, it is a geopolitical defeat for the enemies of the Resistance, who in recent years have made every effort to isolate the Resistance mindset in Lebanon through economic pressures, propaganda, political crisis, and so on.
Resistance message to Tel Aviv
Another important message of Haniyeh trip to Lebanon is to remind what has been a nightmare to the Israelis over the past decade, namely integration of the Resistance network, synergy of the military might and experiences, military unity, and getting ready to respond to foes. Although in the recent Israeli war on Gaza Hamas and other Gaza resistance factions stood solely in the face of the Israeli enemy and forced Tel Aviv, with their missile strikes, to concede to defeat and demand a ceasefire, the other arms of the Resistance in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen asserted readiness to join the anti-Israeli front if the needed. General Yitzhak Brick, the commander of the Israeli reserve forces, told the Army Radio: "If we can't stop missile barrages during 11 days, what can we do to a multi-fronted war with Hezbollah?"
The visit to Lebanon and meeting with Hezbollah chief Sayed Hassan Nasrallah sends a resolute message to a common army and readiness to fight for a shared goal, as new Israeli government led by Neftali Bennet is putting on its agenda hawkish policy afresh.
Hamas spearheading Palestinian developments in Arab world
Accelerating the establishment of Hamas as the center and leader of the Palestinian developments is another message sent by Lebanon visit. Definitely, Hamas political weight in the Palestinian developments is higher than Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas circle in the Palestinian Authority. By entry to war in defense of the Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in West Bank, Hamas proved that first it has a patriotic approach and second it is capable of effectively defending the Palestinian interests. This status uplift was also evident outside Palestine. In his press conference after meeting the Lebanese officials, Haniyeh said that one of the main topics of talks in Beirut was the necessity for the Palestinian refugees to return and called on the Lebanese officials to utilize all their capacities to care more about the humanitarian and social rights of the Palestinian refugees.
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