Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Wednesday that the current international and Arab landscape prevents the possibility that the new Israeli coalition will launch military operations against Iran and Gaza, or attempt to recapture the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.

Speaking during an interview with the Bethlehem-based Ma´an news agency, Zahar rejected claims that the addition of Shaul Mofaz, who served as IDF chief of staff during the second intifada, would make the Israeli government more warlike.

"Not one of the leaders of the occupation can be classified as worse than the other. Attempts to categorize them as doves and hawks is incorrect, they are all fond of shedding Palestinian blood," Ma´an quoted Zahar as saying.

Zahar contended that, although Israel desires to launch an attack on the Gaza Strip and Hamas, the role of Egypt following the fall of Hosni Mubarak, and the warnings of the current Egyptian leadership against a large-scale military operation in Gaza, prevent Jerusalem from doing so.

The Hamas leader also stated that US President Barack Obama was against an Israeli military operation in Gaza, as he does not want such an operation affecting his campaign to be reelected to a second term in November. Zahar added that the US was not likely to endorse an Israeli strike on Iran because of Tehran´s abilities to retaliate against US interests in the world. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 05/11/12)