Hamas co-founder Mahmoud Zahar hinted Tuesday there may be attempts on Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas should he visit Gaza.
In an interview with the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi, Zahar added Abbas would not be visiting Gaza.
Zahar stressed that Hamas was not interested in jeopardizing the internal security situation in the Gaza Strip should Abbas decide to visit and cause internal Fatah violence to occur as a result of "unsettled accounts."
According to al-Quds al-Arabi, Zahar may have been referring to the ongoing conflict between the Palestinian Authority chairman and ex-Fatah official and strident Abbas critic Muhammad Dahlan.
Recently, pointing out the rampant corruption and fiscal insolvency in Ramallah, Dahlan asserted a $1 billion fund had gone missing since Abbas became president in 2005.
Dahlan's accusation – during which he called Abbas a ‘dictator and a bully’ – came just days after PA security forces raided Dahlan's Ramallah home confiscating documents, weapons, and private luxury vehicles.
Nonetheless, an internal corruption probe launched by the PA has already seen five ministers close to Abbas dismissed for embezzlement and other offenses.
Zahar dismissed attempts by Abbas to rekindle the stalled reconciliation process between Hamas and Fatah's leadership as futile, saying of the failed process: "the [reconciliation] agreement was completed [in Cairo], but it's implementation is defunct."
Zahar dismissed any sort of talks that have occurred between officials in Fatah and Hamas of being concerned simply with "peripheral matters."
Hamas’ withdrawal from the reconciliation agreement comes just weeks before the PA makes its statehood bid at the United Nations – and outs the lie to ‘Palestinian unity.’
Many analysts believe Hamas – which has said any agreement with Israel will only serve as a ‘prelude to war’ – is waiting in the wings to seize control of PA enclaves in the event the administration in Ramallah collapses or presents a weak enough target for a putsch.
Also on Tuesday, Sheikh Abu Hader Jaabar the Mukhtar of Hevron told Arutz Sheva Israel made a grave error when it decided to negotiate with the PLO instead of the local tribal leadership.
