Senior sources in the Hamas terror organization have indicated recently that many of their leaders abroad will return to Gaza after the Israeli withdrawal, reports the London-based daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat.
“If [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon fulfills his promise and implements the withdrawal plan,” said one anonymous source, “… brothers such as [Deputy Head of the Political Branch] Mousa Abu Marzouq, Abu Himam, Fa’dl A-Zahhar, and myself are ready to return.”
The source added that the Hamas members he was talking about, were deported from the Gaza Strip in 1991. However, Head of the Political Branch Khalid Mash’al, will not come to Gaza, because he is originally from the West Bank.
In a recent interview with the Emirates daily Al-Bayyan, Abu Marzouq said Hamas will be prepared to negotiate with Israel, as long as it withdraws from all the Palestinian territories. Marzouq also said Hamas is willing to form a government if it wins the next parliamentary elections in July 2005.