Jordan flatly rejects senior Hamas official’s idea of moving leadership to kingdom
After Abu Marzouk claims good relations with Amman, veteran Jordanian diplomat responds that country ‘has closed the book on Palestinian cells’
Michael Horovitz is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel

Jordan on Tuesday quickly dispelled the idea that Hamas leaders would be welcome to set up their offices on their territory after a senior Hamas official suggested the terror group’s political bureau would move to the kingdom if it was forced to leave its current home in Qatar.
It was reported earlier this month that Hamas’s political chiefs are exploring moving their base of operations out of Qatar, as the Gulf state faces increasing pressure over its influence with the terror group in indirect hostage-for-truce negotiations with Israel.
Seeking to dismiss the rumors, Mousa Abu Marzouk told Iran’s al-Alam TV network Monday that the terror group’s leaders would not move to Iraq, Syria or Turkey, adding that “any potential relocation, which is not currently happening, would be to Jordan.”
“Jordan is a supportive nation for Palestinian resistance, and Hamas maintains a positive relationship with the Jordanian government,” he said.
The Hamas leadership was expelled from Jordan and its offices shut by King Abdullah in 1999, with the newly nominated king accusing the terror group of meddling in Jordan’s sensitive relations with its significant Palestinian population.
Doha has hosted Hamas’s politburo leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, since 2012, and has become a key mediator in the war between the terror group and Israel, particularly in efforts to secure a hostage release and truce deal. The country is one of Hamas’s main backers, transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to the terror group annually.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said last week there were no plans to close the office of Hamas’s political bureau as long as its mediation efforts were ongoing in the Israel-Hamas war.
According to the Ynet news site, Jordan’s government was angered by Abu Marzouk’s declaration. Citing Jordan intelligence, the report said the kingdom believed Iran pushed the idea after its military took part in a United States-led coalition that intercepted the missile and drone attack launched against Israel on April 13-14.
The report said the Jordanian government dispatched veteran diplomat Ziad Majali to quickly pour cold water on the idea.
“Hamas behaves as if there’s no state and no authority in Jordan that will decide and determine how to act and how to conduct itself,” Majali was quoted as saying. “Jordan has closed the book on Palestinian cells — and we do not intend to reopen it.”
Amid regular anti-Israel demonstrations in Jordan, a senior security source in the country told Ynet that many detained at those protests “are exposed as doing Hamas’s leadership’s bidding or have received money to attend protests,” and are kept in prison.
“We keep them in custody because the era of Palestinian organizations doing as they please in Jordan is over. We’re an organized kingdom with policy priorities and won’t allow anybody to interfere in our affairs,” the source said.
Decades before its dispute with Hamas, Jordan came into open conflict with the Palestinian Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat in 1970, during a period known as Black September, in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.
By the end of the violent conflict, the PLO was pushed out of major cities in Jordan and the then-king Hussein had consolidated his power.