Watan-Arab and foreign accounts claimed, using a snippet taken out of context from a video featuring Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement, that the Palestinian resistance movement is fighting on behalf of Iran.

Haniyeh is attributed to saying in the selectively edited video: “Supporting resistance movements that weaken or engage the Zionist enemy, in favor of Iran without directly engaging in battles against Tehran, is ultimately in its interest.”

The fact-checking platform “Icad,” specialized in verifying news and open sources, stated that this snippet is taken out of context. The video has recently been circulated by Arab and foreign accounts, alleging that Hamas’ wars serve Iran’s interests.

#تحقُّق | عبر استخدام فيديو مقتطع من سياقه لرئيس المكتب السياسي للحركة.. حسابات عربية وأجنبية تدّعي أن حماس “تحارب بالوكالة عن إيران”، تعرف على صحة الادّعاء@monther72 @RwafWd @AZZaEZZat16 @s_hm2030 @salhah_alsharai @Moraqeb2020#فيديو #إيكاد pic.twitter.com/ECJwSID6cF

— EekadFacts | إيكاد (@EekadFacts) December 30, 2023

Part of Haniyeh’s statement from an interview in 2022 was highlighted by the platform. The platform emphasized that upon further investigation, it was revealed that the excerpt was part of an interview with Haniyeh on the show “Al-Muqabla” with Saudi journalist Ali Al-Zhafiri on January 2, 2022.

During the interview, Haniyeh responded to questions about the reasons for Iran’s support for Hamas. He mentioned that Iran’s support is based on religious and ideological considerations. He also stated that Iran has political interests, and both Iran and Hamas share a common enemy in Israel, which has led Tehran to support Hamas.

In essence, Haniyeh was discussing Iran’s interests in supporting the resistance rather than the goals of the resistance operations. Ismail Haniyeh clarified that Hamas does not engage in wars on behalf of anyone.

“What is the relationship with Qasem Soleimani?

The investigation by ‘Ikad’ continued to assert that Haniyeh’s statement was about the reasons for Tehran’s support for Hamas, not the other way around.

The distortion of Ismail Haniyeh’s statements came after a statement by the spokesperson for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, claiming that the ‘Operation Quds Storm’ was in retaliation for the killing of Qasem Soleimani in an American strike years ago.

This was denied by Hamas, and the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Hussein Salami, also clarified that the operation was entirely Palestinian.”