GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas has launched a goodwill tour of sorts in the Middle East and Africa, seeking to boost ties and eventually reopen closed doors where the movement is labeled a terrorist group, particularly in the EU.
A delegation of Hamas’ Change and Reform parliamentary bloc left the Gaza Strip on Nov. 21 to visit legislative blocs and political parties in seven countries. The group, led by Mahmoud al-Zahar, arrived Nov. 23 in Istanbul, a source close to the delegation told Al-Monitor. The party discussed organizational matters with movement members there, including Hamas' leader abroad, Maher Salah.
The source, who declined to be named, said the delegation will meet Dec. 1 with parliamentary blocs in South Africa.
The tour is particularly important for Hamas as its rival political party, Fatah, has been trying to dissolve the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Hamas won control of the PLC in the 2006 elections, leading to a split in which Hamas military forces took over the Gaza Strip the next year. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah, controls the West Bank and the PLO's Palestinian Central Council. Though Hamas has continued to hold PLC sessions regularly in the Gaza Strip, Abbas effectively disabled the body by shutting down its West Bank headquarters in Ramallah.
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