Dhaka, February 8: The Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has shed light on Hamas’s covert operations in South Asia. He claims that the terrorist organization is collaborating with local Islamic groups in Bangladesh and Pakistan to expand its regional and global network.
In an interview with Bangladesh’s weekly Blitz media outlet, Azar stated, “Hamas aims to secure funding, ideological support, and logistical channels through contacts and operations established via senior leaders like Sheikh Khalid Qudumi and Khalid Mashal, operating from Gaza.”
He added, “This expansion also allows for connections with local Islamic groups.”
Discussing Pakistan’s involvement with the terrorist group as part of a broader strategic theory based on ‘jihadist proxies,’ Azar warned that such ties pose a threat to the country itself. He remarked, “Providing continuous shelter to extremist groups, whether Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or others, creates risks for any nation. History shows that networks established abroad can eventually alter internal conditions, radicalize large populations, weaken state institutions, and generate internal security challenges.”
Coincidentally, a senior investigative journalist from Bangladesh recently reported the arrival of four Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives on flight BG-342 from Karachi to Dhaka. Shahidul Hasan Khokon alleged that this incident is part of a Pakistan-friendly policy that dangerously promotes terrorist infiltration into Bangladesh under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.
This development comes amid the resumption of direct flights between Bangladesh and Pakistan, raising security concerns.
In a July article, Blitz editor Salah Uddin Shoaeb Chowdhury noted that a local Islamic group in Bangladesh allegedly hosted senior Hamas figures, including Sheikh Khalid Qudumi and Khalid Mashal, on September 7, 2024.
Highlighting such activities of terrorist leaders in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan, Ambassador Reuven Azar referenced the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. He compared the methods used in this attack to the Pulwama terrorist incident, stating, “The worrying aspect is that radical Islamic Hamas views the horrific terrorist attack on October 7 as a source of inspiration. They want to replicate these methods and spread them to other parts of the world. What we endured in 2023 has been mirrored in Pulwama and will spread elsewhere. This is why Hamas leaders are being summoned and shamelessly celebrated. The international community must unite to isolate those who support or sponsor terrorism.”
In the Blitz interview, Ambassador Reuven Azar also emphasized Israel‘s growing strategic partnership with India, stating, “Both countries face complex security challenges.” The two nations collaborate in areas such as counter-terrorism, intelligence sharing, and defense technology.
He remarked, “Our partnership has developed within a robust framework that includes formal defense agreements, joint discussions on shared challenges, and cooperation on advanced technologies and methodologies, reflecting deep mutual trust and practical benefits for both sides.”
Azar further noted, “This collaboration enhances our respective capabilities to detect and prevent threats, strengthens our defense industries through co-development and co-production of critical systems.”
He stressed that the challenge posed by international networks associated with the Muslim Brotherhood or its ideological branches, such as Jamaat-e-Islami, is real and cannot be ignored. According to him, these groups often operate across borders, influence communities, fund extremist activities, or provide ideological support to terrorist elements.
