Hamas leader does not rule out talks with Israel

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Islamic militant group Hamas does not
rule out eventual talks with Israel, a state it officially aims
to destroy, a leader of the Palestinian faction said on
Wednesday in a rare interview with Israeli media.

The comments from Mahmoud al-Zahar to Israel Radio were the
latest sign of a shift in Hamas’s line ahead of Palestinian
parliament elections in January which it is contesting for the
first time. Israel dismissed Zahar’s comments.

He said that negotiations were “not our intention” but
might be considered after the elections.

“A negotiation is a method. If the method enables us to
liberate our land, to liberate our people from Israeli jails,
to reconstruct what was destroyed by Israel in its long
standing occupation, at that time we can discuss,” Zahar said.

He and other Hamas leaders have made similar comments
before, always acknowledging the chance of such talks is
slight. Israel makes clear it will not speak to an armed group
that is dedicated to its elimination.

“The Israelis are not intending to make any negotiations
… the Israelis are going to imitate the previous example …
Let us wait and see after the election,” Zahar said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Zahar’s
comments were “an attempt at spin.”

“In my opinion, it is a quick fix to subdue the
international pressure on it. They also want more support among
the Palestinian people,” Shalom said.

Israel opposes the participation of Hamas in the
parliamentary election unless it disarms. Hamas boycotted the
last parliament election in 1996 because it rejected interim
peace accords with Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hopes that Hamas will
shift closer to the political mainstream after the election.
The group has largely followed a nine-month-old truce, but
Zahar reiterated that it would not give up its arms.

Israel rules out statehood talks with the Palestinians
before disarmament, which they are meant to start under a
U.S.-backed peace “road map.” Israel has failed to meet its own
road map obligation for a freeze to settlement expansion.

The Palestinian Authority seeks a state in the occupied
West Bank, Gaza Strip and Arab East Jerusalem, all captured in
the 1967 war. Israeli troops completed a withdrawal from Gaza
in September.