By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH and SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press
CAIRO (AP) - Gaza's ruling
Hamas will not stop arming itself because only a strong arsenal, not
negotiations, can extract concessions from Israel, the No. 2 in the
Islamic militant group told The Associated Press in an interview
Saturday.
The comments by Moussa Abu
Marzouk, just three days after the worst bout of Israel-Hamas fighting
in four years, signaled trouble ahead for Egyptian-brokered talks
between the hostile neighbors on a new border deal.
Hamas demands that Israel
and Egypt lift all restrictions on the movement of goods and people in
and out of the Palestinian territory, which has been buckling under a
border blockade since the Islamists seized the territory in 2007. The
restrictions have been eased somewhat in recent years, but not enough to
allow Gaza's battered economy to develop.
Israeli officials were not
immediately available for comment Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. However,
an Israeli security official said this week that Israel would likely
link a significant easing of the blockade to Hamas's willingness to stop
smuggling weapons into Gaza and producing them there.
Abu Marzouk said Saturday
that the group would not disarm, arguing that recent Palestinian history
has shown that negotiations with Israel lead nowhere unless backed by
force.
"There is no way to
relinquish weapons," Abu Marzouk said in his office on the outskirts of
Cairo. "These weapons protected us and there is no way to stop obtaining
and manufacturing them."
Hamas' founding charter
calls for Israel's destruction, but leaders of the group have also said
they are ready for a long-term cease-fire with the Jewish state.
The group is believed to
have amassed a large arsenal of thousands of rockets since Israel's last
military offensive in Gaza four years ago. Hamas has been smuggling
weapons through tunnels under the border with Egypt, but also claims to
have begun manufacturing longer-range rockets in Gaza.
During the latest round of
fighting, Hamas fired Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets that came close to
Israel's heartland, including the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for
the first time. Israel warplanes pounded the tunnel area during the
offensive to disrupt smuggling, and tunnel operators reported serious
damage, but in the past were able to rebuild quickly.
Hamas used to be evasive
about Iranian weapons support, but in recent days senior officials in
the group have openly thanked Tehran. Gaza strongman Mahmoud Zahar told
reporters on Saturday that he is confident that Iran will increase
military and financial support to Hamas and the smaller militant group
Islamic Jihad.
Iran and its regional
rivals, the Sunni Muslim-led states in the Gulf, have been competing in
recent months to lure Hamas into their respective camps. The top Hamas
leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal, is being hosted by the Gulf state of
Qatar, which has promised hundreds of millions of dollars for Gaza
reconstruction.
Zahar said Saturday that
Hamas is not beholden to anyone, but defended the group's ties with
Iran. "If they don't like it, let them compete with Iran in giving us
weapons and money," he said in an apparent jab at the Gulf states.
Abu Marzouk, meanwhile,
said Hamas would not stand in the way of a bid by its main political
rival, internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to
seek U.N. recognition for a state of Palestine next week.
Abbas will ask the U.N.
General Assembly to approve "Palestine" - made up of the West Bank, Gaza
and east Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in 1967 - as a non-member
observer state.
Such a state is far from
being established, but Palestinians hope U.N. recognition would affirm
its future borders, to be used as a baseline once negotiations with
Israel resume. Israel, while willing to cede some land, refuses with
withdraw to the 1967 lines and opposes Abbas' U.N. move as an attempt to
bypass negotiations. Israel has moved half a million Israelis into
settlements on war-won land.
Abu Marzouk suggested that
Abbas is wasting his time at the U.N. "Hamas believes the General
Assembly is not the one to create states," he said. "Occupation needs
resistance, not negotiations."
Israel and the West have
shunned Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in shootings and
bombings over the years, as a terror organization. However, Hamas
officials believe the boycott is slowly eroding, pointing to U.S.
support for the cease-fire deal brokered by Egypt and the ongoing
indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
Overall, Hamas leaders have
claimed the group has emerged victorious from this round, noting that
Israel did not make good on threats to send ground troops into Gaza.
Israel says it has achieved its goal of halting rocket fire on Israel.
Abu Marzouk said the next
round of indirect talks will take place in Cairo on Monday. He has not
met his Israeli interlocutors, he said, but said they are security
officials and experts on border arrangements.
Until late last year, most
top Hamas leaders in exile were based in Syria, the Islamists' main
foreign backer in addition to Iran. However, Syrian President Bashar
Assad's brutal crackdown on a popular uprising there made Hamas'
alliance with the Damascus regime untenable.
Abu Marzouk, who has settled in a quiet Cairo suburb, said the follow-up talks with Israel were going well so far.
In Gaza, residents said Saturday that Israel has already eased some restrictions.
Fishermen were able to sail
six nautical miles out to sea, or double the previous limit, said
Mahfouz Kabariti, head of the local fishermen's association. "This is an
opportunity and a chance for a better catch, though it is still a
limited area," said Kabariti, who represents some 3,500 fishermen.
Israeli navy boats have
been enforcing a sea blockade in an attempt to prevent weapons smuggling
to Gaza. The restrictions on fishermen have fluctuated over the years,
linked to the ups and downs in Israeli-Palestinian relations.
Meanwhile, some Gaza
residents said they were able to enter an Israeli-enforced buffer zone
on the Gaza side of the border Saturday with Israel without fear of
being fired on.
Israel's military had
carved out a 300-meter-wide (300-yard-wide) zone several years to try to
prevent militants from sneaking into Israel. The zone gobbled up scarce
farmland in one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
On Saturday, 42-year-old
farmer Nidal Abu Dakka said soldiers stood and watched as he and others
moved close to the fence. In other border areas, residents said Hamas
police kept them away from the fence.
An Israeli government
spokesman said he was unaware restrictions had been eased. A defense
official said the Israeli military was no longer enforcing the no-go
zone, but reserved the right to act against suspicious people. Both
spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss
the issue with reporters.
___
El Deeb reported from Gaza City. Associated Press writer Karin Laub in Gaza City contributed reporting.
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2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
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