Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council

Following up on yesterday's post on the extreme statements of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah in Iran, The Jerusalem Post reports that Haniyeh made some additional extreme statements on his final day in the country - vowing Hamas will continue to rely on violence against Israel and reject compromise.

The "Gun is our only response to Zionist regime [sic]. In time, we have come to understand that we can obtain our goals only through fighting and armed resistance and no compromise should be made with the enemy," Haniyeh said.
The "Path of resistance continues and if we make any compromise, it is for resistance and obtaining Palestinians' rights," he continued.

The same article noted that the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds daily had reported that leaders from Gulf states warned Haniyeh not to visit Iran as planned - highlighting the deep divide between Sunni Arab leaders and Shi'ite Iran.

According to the report, sources said, "Officials in the Gulf states advised Haniyeh not to visit Iran due to tense relations," and "expressed concern over Iran's ambitions in the Persian Gulf."
The source said high-level officials in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait - which Haniyeh recently visited - urged him to cancel the planned Iran visit, saying "without a doubt, Haniyeh's visit to Tehran will have consequences."

Al-Quds is widely regarded editorially as a pro-Palestinian Authority paper.

The article further cited a Reuters report based upon an unnamed diplomatic source saying Iran had been funding Hamas to the tune of up to USD $300 million per year, but the flow of money had stopped last August - suggesting that the subject of the resumption of funding would have been high on Hamas' agenda during the visit.