Hamas delegation visits Syria, meets Assad

Palestinian movement Hamas said it restored relations with the Syrian government after a visiting delegation held a "historic meeting" with President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.

The Islamist group, which controls the Gaza Strip, was long one of Syria's closest allies, in large part due to a shared enmity towards Israel.

But it left Syria in 2012 after condemning the Assad government's brutal suppression of protests in March 2011, which triggered the country's descent into civil war.

"This is a glorious and important day, in which we come back to our dear Syria to resume joint work," Hamas chief of Arab relations Khalil al-Hayya told reporters in Damascus.

"This is a new start for joint Palestinian-Syrian action," he said after meeting Assad along with other representatives of Palestinian factions.

By restoring ties with Damascus, Hamas cements its role within the "axis of resistance" against its arch-enemy Israel, analysts said, an Iran dominated alliance that extends to Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and Yemen's Houthis.

The two-day Hamas visit to Syria comes after the Islamist group signed a reconciliation deal with its Palestinian rival Fatah in Algiers last week, vowing to hold elections by next October in a bid to settle a 15-year intra-Palestinian rift.

A Hamas leader said that the group, which was headquartered in the Syrian capital before leaving the country, plans to reopen its Damascus office.