Exclusive: Al-Zahar, Meshaal's Rival, Out of Hamas Leadership
Shlomi Eldar has learned that Mahmoud al-Zahar, a rival of Khaled Meshaal, has been removed from the Hamas political bureau.
In the wake of this week's re-election as head of Hamas' political bureau of Khaled Meshaal to a fourth term comes the news that Mahmoud al-Zahar, the movement's strongman in Gaza, has been left out, Al-Monitor has learned. That means he has not been elected to be part of the political bureau.
Championing Hamas' hard-line policy, al-Zahar was vehemently opposed to the reconciliation talks with the Fatah movement espoused by Meshaal. He also set out against Meshaal's stance that Hamas had to move from an armed struggle against Israel to an unarmed popular uprising.
