(Ha'aretz) Arnon Regular - Hamas will increase the number of kidnappings of Israelis if Israel does not release Palestinian prisoners, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Mahmoud Zahar, told Ha'aretz in an interview. Zahar said that while it may agree to temporary political arrangements, Hamas has not changed its basic position that Palestine between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River is sacred Muslim land. "Hamas regards these [1967] borders only as a stage in the struggle, which will be decided by a change in circumstances. Some Israelis think when we speak about the West Bank and Gaza it means we have given up on the historic war and this is not the case." "Oslo has fallen and is done....We did not create this god called Oslo, and we do not serve it. We want to move in a different direction, and if we succeed in the elections we will also get rid of Oslo." "Experience shows that our maintaining the cease-fire significantly hastened the withdrawal from Gaza....In the end he [Sharon] withdrew even from clearly Jewish land like Kfar Darom....Hamas understands that Israel left the Gaza Strip defeated but not entirely so. It was not a clear victory or total defeat for either side. Israel today does not want to learn from its experience in southern Lebanon and Gaza and the West Bank. It is waiting to see when missiles fall on Kfar Sava or Gilo."
2005-10-26 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive