Hamas denies taking part in Saudi-led coalition

Palestinian Islamist Movement Hamas has officially denied claims by Iranian news agency Fars that it agreed to take part in the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi coup in Yemen, Anadolu agency reported on Sunday.

In a statement, Hamas official spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri said: “What was published by Fars news agency regarding Saudi-Hamas agreement to send hundreds of Hamas fighters to take part in [Operation] Decisive Storm was mere lies.”

He added: “Such lies aim to perplex the outcome of [Hamas’s] successful visit to Saudi Arabia… This is an incitement against Hamas.”

Abu-Zuhri stressed that neither the Saudi officials “nor Hamas’s leadership have discussed the issue. Hamas never thinks about sending its fighters abroad.”

In a report about Meshaal’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Fars claimed that Saudi Arabia had asked Meshaal to send 700 Hamas fighters to take part in Operation Decisive Storm.

Fars also claimed that Mesh’al proposed to send a number of Hamas militants to train Saudi troops, but Saudi defence minister insisted that they only needed Hamas fighters because they do not flee from battlefields.