While Israel was dropping bombs on the head of the Iranian octopus, one of its tentacles, Hamas, quietly slithered into negotiations with the U.S. on Gaza’s second phase. The problem is that limbs rarely act without the head finding out. Someone talked, and word reached the bunkers beneath Tehran.
The Iranians exploded. How dare Hamas engage with Israel and the United States outside the framework of the Axis of Resistance—especially at a time like this?
Hamas’s leadership shrank from the fury, well aware of Iran’s reach within the organization. The group has been trying to keep out of the conflict as much as possible, but that calculation has split it down the middle. A faction loyal to the disintegrating Axis is accusing the survivalist faction of betrayal. The two sides have been issuing contradictory statements: one voicing support for the new Supreme Leader, the other—after much procrastination—condemning the strikes on Gulf states.
The trouble stems not only from their ties to the sinking Iranian ship, but from their other patron as well. Qatar—the Axis’s unofficial member—is no longer tolerant of Hamas’s rhetorical support for a country that just attacked it. According to some reports, Doha is applying pressure to Hamas’s windpipe, freezing all of its donations to the terrorist’s cause.