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Recent intelligence documents have revealed that dozens of leaders and members of the Palestinian groupÌýHamas were executed without trial in Syria under the toppled regime of Bashar al-Assad.

At least 94 Hamas affiliates were reportedly held without any formal charges or court proceedings, according to the pan-ArabÌýAl-Quds Al-Arabi.

Sources close to Hamas confirmed the executions, which were carried out in Syrian prisons, many of them under the direct orders of the regime, reports state.

These intelligence reports were discovered after Assad's government was overthrown in early December, revealing ongoing operations to target anyone with ties to the Palestinian group.

Despite a reconciliation between Hamas and the regime in 2022, the Syrian government continued to label Hamas as "traitorous" and ordered the arrest of individuals connected to the group.

Turbulent relationshipÌý

The relationship between Syria and Hamas has long been turbulent. Initially, Hamas maintained close ties with the Assad regime, with Damascus serving as a key base of operations for the group in the early 2000s.

However, when the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, Hamas distanced itself from Assad, publicly supporting opposition groups in the fight against the regime. This shift angered Damascus, which viewed the Palestinian organisation’s support for rebels as a betrayal.

In response, Syrian security forces began cracking down on Hamas members, accusing them of undermining the stability of the state.

A significant development in the reconciliation between Hamas and the Assad regime came in late 2022 when Hamas decided to renew relations with Damascus following mediation from Hezbollah’s then-Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah.

According to sources, Hamas submitted a list of detainees to Nasrallah, who had promised to press for their release with the highest levels of the Assad regime.

However, Nasrallah’s involvement appeared to be ineffective. Sources claimed that Nasrallah discovered that all the names on the list had already been executed, leading him to withhold any information from Hamas for fear that the truth would derail the fragile reconciliation efforts.

Despite these efforts, the relationship between Hamas and Assad remained strained, and the supposed reconciliation did not result in any significant changes on the ground.

By October 2023, sources revealed that all communication between Hamas and the Assad regime had ceased.

The intelligence documents now released show that, even after Hamas reconciled with the Assad regime in 2022, the targeted executions continued unabated.

According to sources close to Hamas as cited in Arabic media, prominent figures like Mamoun Al-Jaloudi, a senior commander in Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, were among those executed.

Damascus did not issue any condolences for the deaths of prominent Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, and Saleh Al-Arouri, who were killed in Israeli strikes.