The Hamas terrorist organization said on Thursday it had allocated new homes funded by Iran in Gaza to terrorists who had been held in Israeli jails, AFP reported.
The “prisoners ministry” said 26 apartments in a new building in southern Gaza had been given out in a lottery between 125 former prisoners.
Officials from Hamas said the program was the first of its kind funded by Iran.
A second building will be constructed in northern Gaza, the ministry said, adding the project aimed to "reduce the suffering of our freed prisoners."
Hamas and Iran enjoy a close relationship, but the sides were at odds for several years, beginning when Hamas refused to support Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, a close ally of Iran's, in the uprising against him. An angry Iran then reportedly stopped supplying the terror group with weapons.
The tide seemed to turn in the summer of 2017, when Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh thanked Iran for its "unlimited" support for the Al-Qassam Brigades and its contribution to the development of Hamas's military capabilities.
In October of that year, deputy Hamas leader Salah al-Aruri, a sanctioned terrorist, led a delegation to Iran, where he stressed that the group and Iran have agreed to set aside their past differences.
In December of 2018, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar and a delegation of Hamas leaders visited Tehran.
The delegation met with Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who predicted that widespread corruption will annihilate the “Zionist regime” of Israel, while also praising Palestinian “resistance” against Israel.
