Mahmud az-Zahar, in Arabic: محمود الزهار, (Gaza, 1945) is a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. Since the formation of the Hamas government in March 2006, az-Zahar has served as Foreign Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Before Haniyed, az-Zahar was seen as one of the main candidates among Hamas members by the Palestinian Legislative Council for the position of prime minister, since he was at that time the highest official within the organization. In the end, the party decided to go with the then unknown Haniyeh because az-Zahar is considered the leader of the radical wing of the movement. The son of az-Zahar was killed in an Israeli raid on Gaza on January 5, 2008. Childhood
Little is known about az-Zahar's childhood beyond the report that he was born to a Palestinian father and Egyptian mother.
At age 26, she graduated from the University of Cairo School of Medicine and five years later obtained her Master's Degree in General Surgery from Ain Shams University in Cairo. He then became the advisor to the Palestinian Minister of Health, and helped create the Palestine Medical Society and was one of the main founders of the Islamic University of Gaza in 1978. Hamas
Fundamental to the creation of Hamas in 1987, az-Zahar has remained a senior official and spokesperson for the group.
On September 10, 2003, when Israeli F-16s dropped a bomb on their house in the Rimal neighborhood, which only slightly wounded him, while his son Khaled, and a bodyguard were killed, and another twenty wounded among them his daughter Rima. His house was destroyed, and ten nearby houses were damaged, as was the nearby Al-Rahman mosque. The funeral result was attended by more than two thousand mourners, who asked Hamas to avenge the deaths. On January 15, 2008, his son Hussam was killed in an air strike by the Israeli Defense Forces in a car full of Hamas militants in northern Gaza.
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