(IsraelNN.com) 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. Pray for sepsis ...
Egyptian officials have denied that A-Zahar was in Cairo.
Nope. Haven't seen him. But we'll say "hi" if we do...
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.
Did he put Wart-Be-Gone on his nose? Was he wearing his Mom's best clothes?
If A-Zahar is in hiding, he may have fled to El-Arish -- his mother's hometown, located in the Sinai Peninsula.
Hi, ma! I'm home! Hide me!
"You can have your housecoat back now."
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.
That'll last about a month, given the Paleo attention span.
In such a scenario, they said, he would be rejected by both Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah.
Really? That doesn't seem to affect the Heroes of Damascus.
Hamas denies that A-Zahar fled, or that he was wounded in Cast Lead.
Maybe it's a situation like "Sleeper". Maybe he got blown up and all they saved was the wart and now they gotta figure out how to clone him.