Iran Draws Closer To Hamas, PIJ As Terror Attacks And Violence Against Israelis Escalate

(New York, N.Y.) — Israel is facing a surge in Iranian-backed terrorism, and in recent weeks, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has personally engaged with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Secretary General Ziyad al-Nakhalah to show Tehran’s support and solidify alliances. While in Damascus last month, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and others heard appeals from senior Hamas and PIJ officials for Iran to continue its support in the groups’ terror attacks. Raisi publicly obliged by issuing a rallying cry for the “collapse of the Zionist regime” and urging Muslims to "use all their capacities to achieve the violated rights of Palestine and the freedom of the holy Quds [Jerusalem]."  

Faced with rapidly dwindling avenues of support, particularly after Israel seized Hamas cryptocurrency Binance accounts in May, Hamas is becoming increasingly financially dependent on Iran to continue the escalated volume of attacks against Israeli civilian and military targets. Hamas’ military wing – the al-Qassam Brigades – announced in April that it was suspending Bitcoin donations following crackdowns from Israel, the United States, and financial institutions that have hampered the terrorist organization’s cryptocurrency financing activities.  

These latest developments highlight the centrality of Iran's financial support for Palestinian terror groups. According to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Iran is the “driving force” behind terror funding, funneling over $100 million to Hamas and tens of millions in annual direct funding and support to PIJ, which has established training bases and funneled weapons through Damascus and Sudan to support the group’s militant wing, the al-Quds Brigades.  

Years of financial support, training, and recruitment for Hamas and PIJ underscore the increasingly brazen attempts to fully align these organizations with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, and the Iranian regime. As United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) has warned, Iran continues to prop up Palestinian terror groups to export its revolutionary dogma and wage violent proxy wars against Israel. Times of exceptionally high tensions in the region present more exploitative opportunities for the Iranian regime to subvert the region.  

To read UANI’s resource Iran and the Palestinian Nationalist Movement, please click here. 

To read UANI’s resource How Iran Exports Its Ideology, please click here. 

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