Hamas accepts the existence of the state of Israel but will not officially recognize it until the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, according to Khaled Meshal, a Hamas leader in Damascus.
In comments to reporters, Meshal softened his anti-Israel rhetoric, suggesting that Hamas does not seek the destruction of Israel as written in its charter.
He said that Israel is a "reality" and "there will remain a state called Israel -- this is a matter of fact."
"The problem is not that there is an entity called Israel. The problem is that the Palestinian state is non-existent," he said.
Israel and the international community have demanded that Hamas recognize Israel as a prerequisite to receiving tax revenues and international funding. Hamas' refusal has led to Palestinian Authority employees receiving little or no wages for almost a year and has severely depressed the Palestinian economy.
Meshal, who Israel tried to assassinate in 1997, is seen as a hardliner who has used his influence in the last year to move Hamas towards greater confrontation with Israel.
He was seen as the driving force behind the attack on Israeli positions near Gaza in June that led to the capture of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and a full-scale confrontation with Israel.
Because Meshal is the conduit for much of the finance for Hamas, he was able to influence the group's armed wing, which diverged from the political wing led by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.
Palestinian observers have long suspected that Meshal, who has never set foot in Gaza or the West Bank, is a pragmatist whose ultimate aim is to lead the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Hamas is not a member of the PLO, but as the dominant political force in the Palestinian territories, it is only a matter of time and negotiation before it takes its place.
The PLO, currently led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is dominated by Fatah and leftist groups whose influence has waned since the 1960s and 1970s.
Hamas and Fatah are locked in an occasionally violent power struggle that some fear will lead to a civil war. Meshal called for renewed dialogue between the groups to try to form a national unity government.
Meshal's comments are far from the rhetoric of the Hamas charter, which was published in 1988.
In its preamble, the charter notes: "Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors."
The charter insists that the whole of Palestine is an Islamic trust which cannot be given away to non-Muslims.
"As a Palestinian today I speak of a Palestinian and Arab demand for a state on 1967 borders. It is true that in reality there will be an entity or state called Israel on the rest of Palestinian land. This is a reality but I won't deal with it in terms of recognizing or admitting it," Meshal said. "The distant future will have its own circumstances, and positions could be determined then."
Changing the Hamas charter was also a matter for the future, he said.
Past concessions by Palestinian negotiators went unrewarded, he argued, and Hamas would drive hard bargains over issues such as recognition.
"For Israel to suck us into bargains in stages and in packages -- this road constitutes an attempt to weaken the Palestinian position," he said.
Meshal's comments caused surprise among Hamas officials in Gaza, although they were quick to point out there was little substantial divergence from other Hamas statements.
Ahmed Yusuf, an adviser to Haniya, said that Hamas recognized Israel's de facto existence but was not going to recognize it officially.
"Israel is there, it is part of the United Nations and we do not deny its existence. But we still have rights and land there which have been usurped and until these matters are dealt with we will withhold our recognition," he said.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS