{{Short description|Palestinian politician (born 1945)}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Mahmoud al-Zahar | native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|ar|محمود الزهار|italic=no}}}} | native_name_lang = ar | image = Mahmoud al-Zahar at the 5th International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada, Tehran (2).jpg | image_size = | caption = al-Zahar in 2011 | office = Minister of Foreign Affairs | term_start = 29 March 2006 | term_end = 17 March 2007 | prime_minister = Ismail Haniyeh | predecessor = Nasser al-Qudwa | successor = Ziad Abu Amr | office1 = Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council | term_start1 = 18 February 2006 | term_end1 = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1945|05|06|df=y}} | birth_place = Gaza City, Palestine | death_date = | death_place = | party = Hamas | spouse = Summaya | children = 7 | education = {{Ubl | Cairo University | Ain Shams University}} | profession = Politician, physician }} '''Mahmoud al-Zahar''' ({{langx|ar|محمود الزهار|Maḥmūd az-Zahhār}}; born 6 May 1945) is a Palestinian politician and physician. He is a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. Al-Zahar has served as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 18 February 2006 and served as foreign affairs minister in the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority Government of March 2006 (also known as the First Haniyeh Government) that was sworn in on 29 March 2006 and lasted until 17 March 2007.
==Early life and education== Little is known about al-Zahar's early life beyond the fact that he was born in Gaza City in 1945 to a Palestinian father and an Egyptian mother.<ref name=Alshawabkeh />
In 1971, he graduated from the Cairo University Faculty of Medicine<ref name=bbc /> and five years later he got his master's degree in General Surgery from Ain Shams University, Cairo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://islah.ps/new/index.php?page=viewThread&id=1976&cat=31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208175113/http://islah.ps/new/index.php?page=viewThread&id=1976&cat=31 |archive-date=8 December 2015 |script-title=ar: النائب الدكتور محمود الزهار |language=ar |website=islah.ps}}</ref> He then became the adviser to the Palestinian Health Minister, and helped create the Palestinian Medical Society and was one of the primary founders of the Islamic University in Gaza in 1978.{{citation needed |date=June 2024}}
==Career with Hamas== Al-Zahar was instrumental in the creation of Hamas in 1987. Prior to his Hamas career, he had been a surgeon<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/06/israel-gaza-war-hamas|title=In the Cities of Killing|newspaper=The New Yorker|date=28 October 2023|first=David|last=Remnick}}</ref> and worked in Palestinian cities such as Khan Yunis, but was dismissed from this position by Israeli authorities for political reasons.<ref name=Alshawabkeh>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67103298|title=Hamas: Who are the group's most prominent leaders?|newspaper=BBC News|date=17 October 2023|first=Lina|last=Alshawabkeh}}</ref> He was detained by Israeli authorities in 1988, and eventually exiled to Lebanon along with a large number of other Islamist activists in 1992.<ref name=ecfr>{{Cite web|url=https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/mahmoud_al_zahar_plc/|title = Mahmoud al-Zahar (Hamas) |website=Mapping Palestinian Politics |publisher=European Council on Foreign Relations|date = 9 April 2018 |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> He returned to Gaza after about a year. In response to a campaign of suicide bombings by the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades (EQB), on 10 September 2003 an Israeli F-16 dropped a large bomb over his house in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza, which only managed to slightly wound him, while his eldest son Khaled, and a personal bodyguard were killed,<ref name=bbc>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4653706.stm |title=Profile: Hamas' Mahmoud Zahhar |work=BBC News |date=27 January 2006 |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> and twenty others wounded including his daughter Rima. His house was destroyed, and ten other houses nearby were damaged, as well as the nearby Al-Rahman mosque. The resulting funeral was attended by over two thousand mourners, who called on Hamas to avenge the deaths.
Al-Zahar has remained a senior official and spokesperson for the group and was rumoured to have succeeded to leadership of the group following Israel's assassination of Ahmed Yassin in 2004. Hamas routinely denied this rumour, but refused to name who their new leader was, for fear of Israeli action. Al-Zahar was elected for Hamas to the Palestinian Legislative Council at the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, and continues to be a member (as no elections for the PLC have taken place since). He was foreign affairs minister in the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority Government of March 2006 (also known as the First Haniyeh Government) that was sworn in on 20 March 2006. Al-Zahar's main challenge was to break the United States-led diplomatic boycott of the Haniyeh government. On 14 June 2006, Palestinian officials reported that al-Zahar brought twelve suitcases stuffed with US$26.7 million in cash into Gaza through its border with Egypt,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1663270.htm |title=Hamas minister carries millions of dollars into Gaza |work=ABC News |date=14 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615222606/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1663270.htm |archive-date=15 June 2006 |publisher=Reuters}}</ref> which was controlled by Palestinian Authority forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. Al-Zahar was at least the third known Hamas official to be caught with large sums of cash: Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri had been stopped the previous month.
On 15 January 2008, al-Zahar's son Hussam, a member of IQB, was reportedly killed in an IDF air strike<ref name=ecfr/> in a car full of Hamas fighters in northern Gaza.
In 2010, al-Zahar revealed to the press that Yasser Arafat had instructed Hamas to launch militant attacks—including suicide bombings—against Israel in 2000, due to peace talks not going anywhere.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=189574 |title=Arafat ordered Hamas attacks against Israel in 2000 |work=Jerusalem Post |date=29 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101002103058/http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=189574 |archive-date=2 October 2010 |first=Khaled |last=Abu Toameh |access-date=24 November 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Al-Zahar was interviewed by Sky News following the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. He described the two-state solution as "a failed process" that would never be accepted by Israel and stated that the State of Israel did not have a right to exist, describing it as a "settlement". Asked about accusations that Hamas had targeted Israeli civilians, al-Zahar denied the claims, and also denied when asked that Hamas is anti-Semitic: "We are not against Jews because Jews were living this area for many centuries. I'm speaking about occupation."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.sky.com/story/hamas-co-founder-ceasefire-will-hold-for-now-but-no-peace-with-israel-without-justice-for-palestinians-12315339|title=Israel-Hamas ceasefire 'will hold for now but no peace with Israel without justice for Palestinians', Hamas co-founder says|newspaper=Sky News|first=Mark|last=Stone|date=24 May 2021}}</ref>
During the 2023–present Gaza War, the United Kingdom placed economic sanctions on al-Zahar.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/hamas-gaza-david-cameron-royal-navy-foreign-secretary-b1126739.html|title=UK announces fresh Hamas sanctions as Sunak hints at Royal Navy role in Gaza aid|website=Evening Standard|date=13 December 2023|first=Patrick|last=Daly}}</ref>
===Incitement controversy=== During the 2008–2009 Gaza War, al-Zahar, during a television broadcast, was reported to have said that the Israelis "have legitimised the murder of their own children by killing the children of Palestine."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200915132615532555.html |work=Al Jazeera |date=5 January 2009 |access-date=27 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107113355/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200915132615532555.html |archive-date=7 January 2009 |title=Hamas confident of Gaza victory |url-status=live }}</ref> This remark was widely reported as advocating the "murder" of Jewish children worldwide.<ref name=tt>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5454204.ece |work=UK TimesOnline |access-date=2009-03-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513023702/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5454204.ece |archive-date=13 May 2011 |title=Hamas: Israel has legitimised the killing of its children |date=6 January 2009}}</ref><ref name=ta>{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24882659-601,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604165442/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0%2C25197%2C24882659-601%2C00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 June 2009 |title=Hamas terror: every Jewish child now a target |work=The Australian |date=27 January 2009 |first=John |last=Lyons}}</ref><ref name=te>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/4127907/Hamas-leader-Revenge-for-Israels-Gaza-assault-will-be-murder-of-Jewish-children-across-the-world.html|title=Hamas leader: Revenge for Israel's Gaza assault will be murder of Jewish children across the world|work=The Telegraph|date=6 January 2009|access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> Maajid Nawaz condemned the remarks as "depraved" and "perverse Al-Qaeda logic," writing that, as opposed to Hamas, "Israel does not have an active policy of deliberately capturing children to murder them, or even deliberately murdering civilians for that matter."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jan/07/gaza-mahmoud-zahar-hamas |title=Mahmoud Zahar has betrayed his people|work=The Guardian|date=7 January 2009|access-date=26 June 2024 |location=London|first=Maajid|last=Nawaz}}</ref> Basim Naim, the minister of health in the Hamas government in Gaza, said Zahar's statements had been misquoted and mistranslated, and that what he did was to "warn that by carrying out these barbaric massacres of children and women, and by destroying our mosques, the Zionists are creating the conditions for people to believe it is justified or legitimate to take revenge....Dr Zahar did not even mention 'Jews' in his comments".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jan/13/gaza-israelandthepalestinians|title=We believe in resistance, not revenge|work=The Guardian|date=13 January 2009|access-date=26 June 2024|location=London|first=Basim|last=Naim}}</ref>
===Park51 endorsement=== In an interview on New York's WABC radio, al-Zahar was asked by Aaron Klein to comment on the construction of the mosque Park51 near the World Trade Center site. Al-Zahar endorsed the building.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/43647/20100816/ground-zero-mosque-hamas-new-york-post-landmarks-preservation-commission.htm |title=Ground Zero mosque row to become muddier as Hamas pitches in with support |work=International Business Times |publisher=International Herald Tribune|date=16 August 2010 |access-date=8 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308041211/http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/43647/20100816/ground-zero-mosque-hamas-new-york-post-landmarks-preservation-commission.htm |archive-date=8 March 2012 |first=Jijo |last=Jacob}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g5lnPPJXXpZ_cmN17J9dJBFjcgnQD9HKH6S00 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819041914/https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g5lnPPJXXpZ_cmN17J9dJBFjcgnQD9HKH6S00|archive-date=19 August 2010 |title=Hamas leader: Ground zero mosque must be built |publisher=Associated Press |date=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Paul |last=Woodward |url=http://warincontext.org/2010/08/16/hamas-supports-the-right-of-muslims-to-pray-in-mosques-even-in-new-york/|title=Hamas supports the right of Muslims to pray in mosques – even in New York|date=16 August 2010 |website=War in Context|access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref>
==Personal life== Al-Zahar has had four children with his wife Summaya.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html|work=The New York Times|title=Israel to Make Gestures to Palestinians}}{{dead link |date=June 2024 |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> On 10 September 2003, his eldest son Khaled was killed in an Israeli air strike. His other son, a member of Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was killed by Israeli fire in Gaza on 15 January 2008.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kershner|first=Isabel|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/world/middleeast/16mideast.html|title=18 Palestinians Killed in Gaza Clashes|location=Gaza Strip;Israel|work=The New York Times|date=16 January 2008|access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref>
== Books == * لا مستقبل بين الأمم (''Lā Mustaqbal Bayna al-Umam'' / “No Future Among Nations”), Beirut: Arab Scientific Publishers, 2010. <small>Type: polemical/political.</small> * العصف المأكول (''al-ʿAsf al-Maʾkūl'' / “The Eaten Storm”), 2016. <small>Type: novel/Islamic fiction.</small>
==References== {{Reflist|33em}}
==External links== {{commons category}} {{wikiquote}} * [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4653706.stm Profile: Hamas' Mahmoud Zahhar] * [http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,490160,00.html 2007 interview] with Der Spiegel * [https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/islamic-state-not-yet-1.761960 Islamic state? Not yet] – Article stating that he is a creationist. * [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/16/AR2008041602899.html No Peace Without Hamas] – Op-Ed by Zahar in The Washington Post.
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Nasser al-Qudwa}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister of Foreign Affairs|years=2006–2007}} {{s-aft|after=Ziad Abu Amr}} {{s-end}}
{{Hamas}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahar, Mahmoud Al-}} Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Palestinian medical doctors Category:21st-century Palestinian diplomats Category:Ain Shams University alumni Category:Cairo University alumni Category:Foreign ministers of the Palestinian National Authority Category:Hamas leaders Category:Members of the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council Category:Muslim creationists Category:Palestinian non-fiction writers Category:Palestinian novelists Category:Palestinian people of Egyptian descent Category:Palestinian Sunni Muslims Category:Palestinian surgeons Category:Politicians from Gaza City Category:Politicians from Jerusalem