Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh (C) in Beirut on April 5, 2023. (Courtesy of: Muntasser Abdallah)
BEIRUT — The head of Hamas' political bureau, Palestinian leader Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Beirut Wednesday following a night of Israeli attacks on worshippers at the Al-Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem, the state-run National News Agency reported, though it was unclear whether his visit was related to the raid.
Hamas sources told L'Orient Today that Haniyeh had no scheduled meetings with Lebanese officials and that the visit was a "private" one.
Haniyeh previously visited Lebanon in June 2022 and met Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah. Both Hezbollah and Hamas consider themselves to be a force of resistance against Israel.
Last month, Nasrallah met with a delegation of the Palestinian party Islamic Jihad led by its chief Ziayd al-Nakhalah.
Haniyeh's visit comes after Israeli forces attacked worshippers in the Al-Aqsa mosque. Israeli police said they had entered to dislodge "agitators," a move denounced as an "unprecedented crime" by Hamas.
Hamas, which rules the blockaded Gaza Strip, called on Palestinians in the West Bank "to go en masse to Al-Aqsa mosque to defend it."
Several rockets were also fired from the northern Gaza Strip toward Israeli-controlled territory, according to AFP journalists and witnesses.
Additional reporting by Muntasser Abdallah