Zahar's assertion, during a Sept. 29 lecture Islamic University in Gaza
City, marked the first time that Hamas acknowledged that it worked with the
PA in the three-year war against Israel. The coordination took place only
two years after a major PA crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank.
In the lecture, the foreign minister, regarded as one of the top members
of the Islamic regime in the Gaza Strip, did not detail Hamas's cooperation
with the PA. In 2001 through 2003, Hamas launched more than 25 mass-casualty
suicide strikes in Israel.
Palestinian sources said Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas, has also
been in quiet contact with Hamas. But they said Abbas was not believed to
have been coordinating with Hamas to attack Israel.
Zahar said Hamas, which has warned against the resumption of PA peace
talks with the Jewish state, was preparing for another war with Israel. He
said the regime increased its capabilities to smuggle advanced weapons and
military systems into the Gaza Strip from neighboring Egypt.
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