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Hamas, Hezbollah Reportedly Seek To Cool Tensions

Hamas sought an urgent meeting with Hezbollah to ease tensions after accusations that Palestinians affiliated with Hamas had fought alongside Syrian rebels in Qusair.

Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters wave Palestinian and Hezbollah flags during a demonstration, organised by Lebanese and Palestinian factions, against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in front of the U.N. headquarters in Beirut November 17, 2012. Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza on Saturday, including the prime minister's office, after Israel's cabinet authorised the mobilisation of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible ground invasion. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - T
Hezbollah supporters wave Palestinian and Hezbollah flags during a demonstration against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in front of the UN headquarters in Beirut, Nov. 17, 2012. — REUTERS/Jamal Saidi

The conflict in Syria has stressed the relationship between the Palestinian Sunni Hamas movement and the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah organization, transforming it from one of "intimacy" between allies to a tension-inducing "quarrel" after Hamas took a position against the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah became involved militarily in supporting the regime.

Informed Palestinian sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed to Al-Monitor that members of Hezbollah had asked Hamas members residing in Beirut's southern suburbs to leave the area at the end of the battle for Qusair in Syria. The Party of God believed that Palestinians from Hamas had participated in the fighting against it and Syrian regime forces.

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