Zahhar: Cairo dialogue won't give way to repeat previous disavowals

DAMASCUS - Senior Hamas political leader MP Dr. Mahmud Al-Zahhar has revealed on Thursday that his Movement wants the Cairo dialogue to be clear in order avoid repeating previous "bad" experiences, including disavowing certain parties obligations.

Zahhar's remarks were uttered as he delivered a speech in the Al-Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus. He also stressed Hamas possesses force more now, that it did during the Israeli war on Gaza.

"This time, the [inter-Palestinian] negotiations will not give any part the chance to disavow its obligations. We won't allow repetition of what had happened in the past... We want a genuine political partnership and not a political monopoly that would finish off the resistance, as the case is in the West Bank".

He explained, "We discussed the election laws to ensure tampering or fraud do not interfere with Palestinians legitimate democratic choices. We are talking about the PLO in a bid to get it out of the grave and clothe it with the dress of the resistance again".

Furthermore, Zahhar stressed that his Movement wasn’t fighting for political position, underlining Hamas still strives to unite the Palestinian ranks enabling united Palestinian decisions. "We want to build, not demolish".

Reacting to the Israeli suggestion of excluding a number of Palestinian captives on Hamas's list, and of deporting other captives out of Palestine, Zahhar underlined, "We won't allow the Israelis to gut the prisoners' swap deal of its core".

The Hamas's official pointed out that during the Israeli war on Gaza, the Israeli slogan was "we must win the war in Gaza". They (the Israelis) targeted Gaza based on their belief it was the weakest point, and they could easily achieve victory regaining the myth of military superiority. Their war in Gaza failed, and Hamas wasn’t defeated.

According to Zahhar, the battle of Gaza held a number of strategic dimensions. It struck the heart of Israels security theory after rockets fired by Palestinian resistance fighters reached and hit in Palestinian land occupied since 1948.