Senior Hamas delegation to visit Syria for 1st time in 10 yrs

GAZA: A senior delegation of the Palestinian nationalist organisation, Hamas will visit Syria on Wednesday for the first time in 10 years, a spokesman announced.

Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Hazem Qassem, told Xinhua news agency that the delegation would be headed by Khalil Al-Hayya, the group's leader in charge of the Arab and Islamic Relations bureau.

'Hamas movement's delegation will visit Damascus as part of a broader delegation that includes several Palestinian factions,' said Qassem, who declined to say if the group's leaders will hold talks or meetings with Syrian officials.

On September 15, Hamas announced that it would continue to build and develop solid relations with Syria 'to serve the Palestinian people and their just causes'.

The Hamas leadership had taken Damascus as its headquarters since 1999.

In 2012 following the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, the movement left Syria and is currently settled in Qatar and Turkey, causing a rupture with the Syrian leadership.

In June, a Hamas source revealed to Xinhua that significant progress had been made to restore the relationship between the movement and Syria following efforts by the Lebanese Hezbollah leadership to bring the two sides together.