Hamas New Policy Document: Palestinian State on 1967 Land
Local Editor
Hamas unveiled a new policy document Monday as the Palestinian movement seeks to improve its international standing.
The move comes ahead of a first face-to-face meeting Wednesday between US President Donald Trump and Palestinian Authority president Mahmud 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 of two terms.
Meshaal said he hoped the new US administration would "act with more seriousness on the Palestinian cause and change its misconceptions about the Palestinian people."
The press conference was also broadcast live in the Gaza Strip 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 event in a Doha hotel.
But after years of internal debate, the new document formally accepts the idea of a state in the territories occupied by "Israel" in 1967.
"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.
One Hamas leader, Ahmed Yusef, 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."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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