Mahmoud al-Zahar: Qassams helping Israel

Hamas strongman Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar on Saturday night slammed the Palestinian groups firing rockets at Israel. Zahar told the Iranian al-Alam television station that the rocket fire was a "suspicious action aimed at allowing the enemy to gain points in its favor in the public opinion and divert the attention from its crimes in the territories."

According to Zahar, "The enemy wants to portray itself as defending itself against the rocket fire while being criticized by the Quartet. We are aware of the fact that there are elements wishing to help the enemy divert the attention from what is happening in Jerusalem.

"We are closely following those firing the rockets and are aware of the real motives behind the fire," Zahar said, implying that the groups' main goal was to undermine Hamas' rule in the Gaza Strip.

He also slammed the Palestinian Authority for not allowing protests for Jerusalem, and noted that the International Quartet's decision in Moscow was not serious. "It was more of a media event, and the most important thing is maintaining a popular movement for Jerusalem."

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called on the international community to take responsibility and intervene in order to force Israel to honor the international law and stop all settlement activity, particularly in Jerusalem and its surroundings, as well as the Israel Defense Forces raids in the Palestinian territories, and lift the blockade imposed on Gaza.

Speaking during a ceremony at the Tunisian Embassy in Ramallah, Fayyad said that the Palestinians were determined to establish their state within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.

"Establishing a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital is only a matter of time," he said. Fayyad also condemned the killing of 16-yea-old Muhammad Qadus during a violent clash between IDF forces and Palestinian rioters near Nablus.