Hamas fighters. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Hamas is purportedly seeking to establish its foreign base in Algeria following the Palestinian terror group’s ouster from Qatar last month.

According to a report in the London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat, senior Hamas officials have made a formal request to Algeria to set up a foreign base there. But the North African country has yet to respond to the request.

“On a personal level I applied for a stay in Algeria. The Algerian authorities promised to study the request and consider it,” Asharq Al-Awsat quoted Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri as saying.

Hamas officials are currently scattered among several Middle East and Asian countries following the terror group’s ouster from Qatar. The Gaza-ruling organization has become increasingly isolated in recent months amid a dispute between the Saudi-led Gulf alliance and Qatar. Saudi Arabia has criticized Qatar over its support for terror groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.