Israel media accuses Syria’s President Al-Sharaa of repositioning Hamas, Islamic Jihad

Israeli media outlets have accused Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa of quietly allowing Hamas and Islamic Jihad to reestablish their presence in Syria.

According to Netziv, a Hebrew-language website with reported ties to Israeli security circles, the Syrian leadership has “quietly and off the radar” permitted the two Palestinian groups to rebuild their armed infrastructure inside Syrian territory.

Israeli commentators described the move as “worrying,” citing concerns that Hamas and Islamic Jihad could resume operations along the Syria-Israel frontier, particularly in the occupied Golan Heights, the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reported.

The report, which remains unverified, claimed that the information originated from Syrian sources linked to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). It alleged that HTS — once led by al-Sharaa — facilitated the release of hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad members several months ago. These figures had been detained by Bashar al-Assad’s forces since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, following Assad’s expulsion of Hamas leaders from Damascus.

The Netziv report further asserted that, after Assad’s overthrow by opposition factions led by HTS, the group’s leadership “saw practical feasibility in rebuilding the forces of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other Palestinian organisations on Syrian soil.”

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