New Hamas Document Accepts Palestinian State with 1967 Borders

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Hamas on Monday unveiled a new policy document easing its stance on Israel after having called for years for the country's destruction, as the Palestinian Islamist movement seeks to improve its international standing.

The move comes ahead of a first face-to-face meeting on Wednesday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party remains deeply divided from Hamas.

The document was unveiled in the Qatari capital Doha by exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who is due to step down soon after serving his maximum two terms.

The press conference was also broadcast live in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas, and the document was posted on the movement's website.

"We in Hamas believe that renewal and reinvention is a necessity," Meshaal said at the conference in a Doha hotel.

While the new document does not amount to recognition of Israel as demanded by the international community, Hamas officials say, it formally softens its stance in a few key areas.

Hamas leaders have long spoken of the more limited aim of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip without explicitly setting this out in its charter.

But after years of internal debate, the new document formally accepts the idea of a state in the territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967.

It also says its struggle is not against Jews because of their religion but against Israel as an occupier.

"We are not fighting against the Jews because they are Jewish," said Meshaal.

"We are waging this struggle against the aggression of Zionists."

However, the original 1988 charter will not be dropped, just supplemented, in a move some analysts see as a way of maintaining the backing of hardliners.

Asked if Hamas would negotiate directly with Israelis, Meshaal replied: "Our policy is we will not engage in direct negotiations with the Israelis because nothing in the conditions and circumstances convinces us that any conclusions can be reached."

Direct talks is "a process, it's a game we will not fall for it."

The new document also continues to speak of liberating historic Palestine, including areas that are today part of Israel.

Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union, and the new document is aimed in part at easing its international isolation.

- 'More moderate' -

One Hamas leader, Ahmed Youssef, earlier told AFP the updated charter was "more moderate, more measured and would help protect us against accusations of racism, anti-Semitism and breaches of international law."

It also does not refer to the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Hamas was closely linked when formed.

Israel was not convinced, however, with a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying "Hamas is attempting to fool the world but it will not succeed."

"They dig terror tunnels and have launched thousands upon thousands of missiles at Israeli civilians," David Keyes said in a statement, referring to rockets fired from Gaza and tunnels used to carry out attacks.

Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008.

The strip has been under an Israeli blockade for 10 years.

U.N. officials have called for this to be lifted, citing deteriorating humanitarian conditions, but Israel says it is needed to stop Hamas from obtaining weapons or materials it could use to make them.

Hamas remains deeply divided from Abbas' Fatah, and speculation has mounted over who will succeed the 82-year-old as Palestinian president.

Abbas' first meeting with Trump in Washington takes place on Wednesday.

The bitter split between Fatah and Hamas has taken a new turn in recent days.

Some analysts say it seems Abbas is seeking to increase pressure on Hamas in the impoverished Gaza Strip, but he risks being blamed for worsening conditions in the enclave of two million people.

In one example, Israeli officials say the Palestinian Authority dominated by Abbas' Fatah has begun refusing to pay Israel for electricity it supplies to Gaza.

Rights activists say exacerbating an already severe power shortage in the strip could be catastrophic.

Comments 10
Thumb ex-fpm 01 May 2017, 21:29

Hamas and Hezbollah are similar creatures. Few years back Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority of treason for negotiating with Israel and accepting a Palestinian State with pre 1967 borders. They massacred their political opponents in Gaza and established their own iranian backed Emara while calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.

What ensued was the establishment of a corrupt government that made billionaires out of a few terrorists in Gaza not unlike what hezbollah has done in Lebanon.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah have consolidated power and got rich while singing to the tune of the zionist enemy.

today Hamas has accepted what the PA accepted 25 years ago and now deleted the clause calling for the destruction of Israel from its charter.

Poor are the people of Palestine!

Thumb _mowaten_ 02 May 2017, 00:01

"who will buy any nice words from the mouth of those child murderers" are you saying the west will believe every lie that israelis tell them?

Thumb _mowaten_ 02 May 2017, 11:20

LOOL that's the funniest yet. without the billions given each year by Germany and the US, and the weapons (up to and including nuclear weapons) not to mention political and mediatic support, israel would have dried out a long time ago, like a tick without a dog to suck blood from.

Missing phillipo 01 May 2017, 23:12

"idea of a state in the territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967."
" including areas that are today part of Israel."
Sorry, he can't have it both ways.

Thumb _mowaten_ 02 May 2017, 00:05

how can it be "both ways", when every inch of israel was taken through war, murder and expropriation?

Thumb _mowaten_ 02 May 2017, 00:09

maybe the "one way" they need to follow is your way, and the language they should speak is the only one you understand: violence.
remember this in the decades to come. today you still have the upper hand, thanks to your living on the back of the US like ticks on a dog, but since the 40s your advantage has melted like snow in the sun.

Thumb _mowaten_ 02 May 2017, 01:56

Of course, there is you SOB, every person you killed and tortured in the land of Palestine and every person you dispossessed in your greed lust of power is a Palestinian.
Do you think that by playing on terminology, calling them "Arabs" or "Jordanians" you can erase your crimes? Erase the injustice? The suffering?
I can't wait to see the tables turn, and see you lose that smug arrogance.

Thumb warrior 02 May 2017, 04:45

so touching to hear the iranian shia heretic express emotions about killings and torture as he applauds his sectarian filthy militia when it massacres women and children in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Thumb _mowaten_ 02 May 2017, 11:21

no anonyme, mental illness is when you get into yet another of your fantasies and start believing they're true.

Thumb gigahabib 02 May 2017, 11:40

That's what happens when you sell yourself to Qatar and betray the Resistance; you get raped by Israel.