Abbas will lose if he bets on peace talks with Israel

Hamas political bureau member, Mahomud Al-Zahar said if the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas bets on peace talks with Israel rather than reconciling his Fatah movement with Hamas, he will lose out, stressing that the coming rise of Islamism in the Arab world will strengthen support for the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. In an interview with Reuters in his Gaza office, Al-Zahar said Hamas will not give up its armed confrontation with Israel, adding “everything depends on Fatah's policy now; if Fatah wants the (unity) agreement to be accomplished, we will be ready. If they do not want, then we are sitting here and the future is ours." Al-Zahar stressed that Hamas is not prepared to relinquish the fight against Israel under any circumstances, denying that Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, based in Damascus, had endorsed Abbas's concept of non-violent "popular resistance" against Israel. He said "popular resistance includes both Fatah agenda, which speaks of protests only, and the Hamas position which advocates gathering all means of military armament for the sake of self-defense.” He predicted that the rising tide of Islamism in the Arab world would strengthen the Palestinian cause. "What is coming in Egypt, in Tunisia, in Libya and currently in Sudan is supportive of the Palestinian cause, not as in the past a strategic supporter of the Israeli occupation," he said. He went on to say "what is coming is a thousand times better than in the past. Therefore we have to invest in these achievements by the Arab street for the sake of achieving the fundamental goals of the Palestinian people, the liberation of land and the return of refugees.” In another context, Al-Zahar warned that the reconciliation agreement with Fatah, signed last May and sealed personally by Abbas and Mashaal last month in Cairo, may suffer if Abbas pursues peace talks with Israel. Senior Israeli and Palestinian officials have held talks in Amman, in the past week after more than a year in suspension. Al-Zahar said "our doubts are really great, especially after these meetings in Amman." After signing Hamas-Fatah reconciliation in Cairo, Israel warned that striking a unity pact with Hamas would eliminate Abbas and Fatah as a potential partner for peace. Al-Zahar added “imagine that the Israeli enemy attacked us today or tomorrow; if we were attacked we would respond by all possible means.” He bet Arab reaction would be stronger than in 2009 when 1,400 Palestinians were killed in Israel's three-week war against Gaza, if Israel launched a military offensive into Gaza. "Israel could use its foggy political situation as the Arab nation still organizes itself to launch a new aggression against Gaza Strip," he said, adding that Israel cannot accept that Gaza remains a painful and dangerous thorn in the future of the Israeli entity.