GAZA CITY, Nov 9: Hamas said on Wednesday it was prepared to consider talks with Israel but vowed not to disarm, two months before the radical group contests its first Palestinian legislative elections.

“Negotiations are not our intention, negotiation is a method,” said Mahmud Zahar, leader of the powerful movement in its Gaza Strip stronghold, in a rare interview with Israeli radio.

“If the method is able to liberate our land, to liberate our people from Israeli jails, to reconstruct what was destroyed by the long-standing Israeli occupation, at that time we can discuss,” added Zahar, speaking in English.

His interview comes just over two months before Hamas is to contest its first parliamentary polls, only the second ever such ballot in the Palestinian territories.

Hamas is expected to make significant gains, undercutting the decade-long power monopoly exercised by the more moderate Fatah party of Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.

Israel says it will not facilitate the vote as long as Hamas — whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state — insists on running.

But looking ahead, when Hamas will likely take up seats in parliament and even join a coalition Palestinian cabinet, Zahar did not rule out talks.

“It depends on the other side, because the Israelis are not intending to make negotiation ... Let us wait and see after the elections,” the official said.

Zahar called on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and east Jerusalem and ‘to give the Palestinians a chance to live as human beings’.—AFP