Senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud A-Zahar has made no public appearances since the beginning of the Cast Lead counter-terror operation in Gaza. While other Hamas leaders have issued frequent condemnations of Israel and proclamations of victory, A-Zahar has remained silent, leading to theories that he was wounded or fled during the fighting.
According to rumors that apparently began with an anonymous IDF report, A-Zahar was injured in an IDF strike during Cast Lead. He was secretly taken to an Egyptian hospital in Cairo for treatment.
Egyptian officials have denied that A-Zahar was in Cairo.
Western diplomats told the Hebrew-language daily Maariv that A-Zahar had fled, fearing assassination. Other senior Hamas leaders were killed during the operation, including Nizar Rayyan and Said Siyam.
A-Zahar escaped Gaza by hiding in an ambulance headed for Egypt, the sources said. He even disguised himself by shaving his beard, they added. If A-Zahar is in hiding, he may have fled to El-Arish – his mother's hometown, located in the Sinai Peninsula.
If A-Zahar is found to have fled Gaza during the IDF operation, he is likely to lose much of his public support, analysts pointed out. In such a scenario, they said, he would be rejected by both Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah.
Hamas denies that A-Zahar fled, or that he was wounded in Cast Lead.