Saudi Arabia to host senior Hamas delegation - reports

Saudi Arabia will host a senior delegation of the Hamas terrorist group on Sunday, according to Arabic media reports. 

The visit will start with a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest site for Muslims. It is aimed at restoring relations between Riyadh and Hamas, which deteriorated in 2007, when the terrorist group took over the Gaza Strip by overthrowing the Palestinian Authority. 

In recent months, Hamas officials have been signaling their desire to restore ties with the kingdom, which arrested dozens of their operatives in 2019. Palestinian reports said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia released Muhammad Hassan Ashour, a senior member of Hamas, who was imprisoned four years ago. He is allegedly set to be deported to Turkey with his family. 

The Sunday meeting comes amid historic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran that supports Hamas. The delegation will reportedly include Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, his deputy Saleh al-Arouri and the group’s foreign chief Khaled Mashaal. 

Earlier on Thursday, reports said that Riyadh’s interest in normalizing relations with Israel was “chilled” by the recent clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and ongoing tensions in the West Bank. The mending of ties between the kingdom and Hamas could be seen as another setback for Israel’s efforts to establish official relations with the Gulf state.

Hamas is on a diplomatic push to gain support in the region while increasing Israel's diplomatic isolation in the Arab world. The terrorist group is also trying to undermine the idea of the Abraham Accords.