September 06, 2019
Iran has pledged to quintuple its monthly payments to the Palestinian Hamas in exchange for intelligence on Israeli missiles, an Israeli television network reported August 12.
The Islamic Republic is a longtime financial supporter of Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip for a dozen years and advocates Israel’s destruction.
In a recent meeting in Tehran between nine senior Hamas officials and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi, Tehran expressed willingness to raise its monthly financial backing to Hamas to $30 million per month, Channel 12 reported, citing an unnamed Arab source.
A report by the Ynet Israeli news site last August, citing Palestinian sources, said Iran’s payments to Hamas at the time amounted to less than $6 million per month.
The huge boost, which will bring the payments to more than a third of a billion dollars over a full year, comes as Iran has been slashing spending domestically, and even cutting the budget of the Pasdaran.
In exchange for the funding, Tehran asked Hamas to provide intelligence about the location of Israel’s missile stockpiles, the report said. It was not immediately clear if the raise was strictly conditioned on intelligence being provided by the group, which is listed by the United States as a terrorist organization.
The Hamas members said they would convey the request to the movement’s leaders in Gaza.
Hamas also reportedly asked Iran to act as mediator for the terror group with Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria, after ties were cut during the Syrian civil war.
A report by the Israeli Haaretz daily said Israeli intelligence officials believe Hamas and Iran have come to an agreement for Hamas to open a war front against Israel from the southern coastal strip in the event of conflict breaking out with Hezbollah in Lebanon on Israel’s northern border.
The report quoted a senior security official as saying the intelligence establishment estimates Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, also located in Gaza, will try to force Israel to move forces and air defense systems to the south at the expense of troops fighting in the north.
The report said that Israeli intelligence sources believe Iran has increased its involvement in the strip in order to turn Hamas into an operational arm against Israel.
