Hamas leadership would relocate to Jordan if forced to leave Qatar: Senior official

A senior Hamas official said the Palestinian group would eye relocating its leadership to Jordan if circumstances compel them to leave Qatar, where they have been since Doha was asked by Washington to host them.

Mousa Abu Marzouk insisted that any talk of Hamas leaders leaving Qatar is currently unfounded, but said that Jordan could serve as an alternative destination.

“All this talk about Hamas’ departure from Qatar is worthless, [but] if the leadership of Hamas moves … we will move to Jordan,” the Hamas official said in an interview with Iran’s Arabic-language al-Alam news channel over the weekend.

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He described Hamas’ relationship with Amman as “good,” adding that most of Hamas’ leaders have Jordanian passports.

Abu Marzouk claimed that Hamas leaders are currently based in Qatar because the United States “forced” Doha to host them. If not for US interference, Hamas’ leadership would be in “its natural place, which is Jordan,” he said.

Former Jordanian information minister Samih al-Maaytah, speaking to Al Arabiya on Tuesday, said that Amman would not permit any non-Jordanian organization to operate within its borders and that Jordan was “not a hotel.”

Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, said in an interview with Al Arabiya on Monday that the issue of relocating to Jordan has not been seriously considered within the group.

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Hamas maintains excellent relations with Qatar and is under no pressure from Doha to leave the Gulf state, Hamad said.

Tensions between Jordan and Hamas date back to 1999 when the kingdom expelled the group’s chief Khaled Meshaal.

Turkey has also hosted Hamas officials and members in the past. On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Al Arabiya that relocating the group’s leadership to Turkey was out of the question for the time being.

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