Ramallah: It has been ten years since Palestinians began an uprising that swept away peace talks, triggered a ferocious reaction by the Jewish state and left thousands dead on both sides.

Exactly why it happened just as Palestinian statehood seemed attainable is a mystery, fed by conspiracy theories and competing narratives from across the political spectrum.

This week comes an intriguing twist: One of the leading figures in Hamas seems to confirm that Yasser Arafat was playing a double game — encouraging Islamist militants to attack inside Israel while publicly insisting he was trying to stop the violence.

Legacy

Some suggest Hamas strongman Mahmoud Zahar may be exaggerating, but his comments could help shape the legacy of the Palestinian leader.

To many the late Arafat remains an arch-terrorist who fooled the world into considering him a peacemaker. Others lionise him as an iconic — if flawed — visionary who dedicated his life to forging demoralised Palestinians into a determined, proud nation.

As head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Arafat struck a historic deal with Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin and then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in 1993, under which the Palestinians received autonomous control over parts of the West Bank and Gaza, territories Israel captured in the 1967 war. The three shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.

The so-called Oslo accords were an interim arrangement, and seven years later another Israeli leader, Ehud Barak, was offering Arafat statehood on the majority of the two territories. But Barak's proposal borders — and especially for sharing occupied Jerusalem and refusal to allow Palestinian refugees to return to Israel — fell short of expectations.

Now, Zahar has been quoted by Hamas-affiliated newspapers as telling Gaza City students that when Arafat realised negotiations were failing, he "recommended to Hamas to carry out a number of military operations in the heart of the Hebrew state."

A student leader confirmed the reports in the Al Risala and Felesteen newspapers. The reports were not denied by Zahar, who could not be reached.

Other Hamas leaders refused to discuss the statements, and several privately expressed displeasure but did not deny them.

Revolt

It was not clear when Arafat's supposed urgings took place. But Zahar's statement was made Tuesday on the 10th anniversary of the second intifada.

"What Zahar said is true," Raanan Gissin, Ariel Sharon's longtime spokesman said. Israeli "intelligence knew that Arafat wanted to initiate violence because talks failed over Jerusalem," he said. "Everything was in place for Arafat [and even] if Sharon wouldn't have gone there, something else would have triggered it."

Veteran Arafat aide and negotiator Nabeel Shaath rejected Zahar's assertions.

"Arafat refused to surrender to the Israeli and American positions, but only supported non-violent resistance," he said. "I witnessed many instances in which he tried to stop military confrontations."

Others say reality was not clear-cut, and use careful, oblique terms.