Report: Iran Delays Renewing Hamas Funding Over Failure to Destabilize Judea and Samaria

Kan News reports that Iran is delaying a Hamas request to renew financial support. Tehran is reportedly dissatisfied with the group’s failure to destabilize Judea and Samaria.

A senior Hamas delegation traveled to Tehran in early September and met with senior Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf.

According to the report, Hamas representatives asked Iran to restore financial assistance. A Palestinian source said the loss of funding had put Hamas under budgetary pressure.

However, the delegation left without a commitment from Tehran to renew the funding.

The Palestinian source told Kan that Iranian officials were dissatisfied with Hamas’s inability to significantly undermine security stability in Judea and Samaria. Iran’s reluctance to restore the assistance was linked to that perceived failure, according to the report.

Hamas has continued trying to expand its activity in Judea and Samaria despite relatively low levels of terrorism in the area.

Israeli security officials said in September that terror activity in Judea and Samaria had fallen to its lowest level since 2011. At the same time, they warned that Hamas headquarters abroad, including in Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Lebanon and Gaza, were continuing efforts to promote attacks against Israelis and IDF troops.

Israeli forces have carried out extensive preventive operations in the area, targeting suspected terror operatives and incitement networks ahead of the recent Jewish holidays.

The report marks a shift from earlier indications that Iran was prepared to continue supporting Hamas. Kan reported in August that Tehran had pledged financial and diplomatic backing after Hamas representatives requested additional assistance to rebuild the organization’s military capabilities.

Iran has supported Hamas for decades with funding, weapons and training, although the two have not always agreed on regional strategy. A US Congressional Research Service report notes that Iran has long backed Palestinian terrorist groups and has increasingly focused on activity in Judea and Samaria as Hamas suffered major setbacks in Gaza.