A senior leader of Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, Thursday denied Israeli reports that he had met with intelligence officers from the European Union (EU) in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
"I have only met with deputies and representatives of the European embassies and consulates who come from Jerusalem to be briefed on the people's views," Mahmoud Zahar, former foreign minister of the sacked Hamas-led unity government, told reporters in Gaza.
Israel's Jerusalem Post has reported that it was told by Palestinian National Authority (PNA) officials that EU security persons were holding secret contacts with the Islamic movement which seized control of the Gaza Strip from President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah in mid June.
The report, which did not disclose identities of the EU security representatives, said the officers were from intelligence services of three EU countries.
Zahar said, "These are Israeli attempts to tell the people that Hamas was dealing with foreign intelligence as the others have done" in reference to pro-Abbas security services that Hamas says were coordinating with the Israeli and American intelligence.
He added that the meetings with the Western diplomats focus on economic and humanitarian situation in Gaza Strip and Hamas' vision to end the crisis.
The Palestinian territories was undergoing a deep crisis after Hamas took the Gaza Strip on June 14 and Abbas, in turn, fired the Hamas-led unity government and formed a new one in the West Bank.
In addition, Israel sealed off crossing points into Gaza Strip and confined Hamas to the coastal enclave.
Source: Xinhua
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