Dr. Mahmoud A-Zahar has been elected political leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, say Palestinian sources familiar with the inner workings of the movement. He fills the job held by Abdel Aziz Rantisi until his assassination nine days ago.
Ismail Haniyeh has been appointed as A-Zahar's deputy, while the new No. 3 in the Hamas hierarchy is Said A-Siam.
Shortly after Rantisi's assassination, the head of the Hamas political wing, Khaled Meshal, who is based in Syria, ordered the movement in Gaza to elect a new leader. But fearing that the new leader might be targeted by Israel - like Rantisi and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin - Meshal also instructed movement members not to make the new leader's name public.
As a result, Hamas activists in the Strip refrained from mentioning A-Zahar's name. In an attempt to protect him, the movement announced it had chosen a "collective leadership." Within the organization, though, a clear hierarchy was established. As far as is known, A-Zahar, Haniyeh and A-Siam consult and take decisions together, but A-Zahar is considered, in effect, the most senior of the three.
According to the Palestinian sources, A-Zahar, who was one of the small group of Hamas founders (along with Sheikh Yassin), was officially elected to head the Hamas "political bureau" in Gaza. In recent days, he has been conducting most of the contacts with the Palestinian Authority and is the main address for PA leaders.
Ismail Haniyeh, the No. 2, served as Yassin's right-hand man and is viewed as the most prominent administrative figure among Hamas members in the Strip. The No. 3, A-Siam, was one of Rantisi's proteges and has now been put in charge of contacts with other Palestinian groups, such as Fatah and Islamic Jihad.
In addition to the election of A-Zahar, a number of other Hamas leaders in the Strip, who are known for their role in the movement's social wing, have been "upgraded" so that if A-Zahar or any of the other new leaders is targeted, they can replace them. Two of the more prominent names in this group are Ahmed Baher and Nizar Rian, both residents of the Shati refugee camp.
A-Zahar, a surgeon, who for many years lectured at the Islamic University - a Hamas stronghold in Gaza, is considered one of the movement's most eloquent spokesmen. He was among the 415 Hamas members expelled by Yitzhak Rabin to Lebanon in 1992. He is considered much more acceptable to the Palestinian Authority than Rantisi, who was outspoken in his criticism of the PA.
A-Zahar is seen as one of the movement's ideological leaders, but he is not viewed as a charismatic figure, able to inspire movement activists or members of the military wing of Hamas.
A senior officer said on Sunday that the policy of targeted killings against senior Hamas members, as well as lower-level members of the movement's military wing, would continue. The fact that there have not been strikes over the last week, he said, was simply a result of the fact that no opportunities had arisen, and was not the result of a change in policy
