Hamas members jailed in Israel Photo: Hagai Aharon
Mahmoud al-Zahar Photo: AFP
Hamas lauds proposal implicitly recognizing Israel
Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar praises terrorists in Israeli jails who hammered out proposal calling for establishment of Palestinian state on lands Israel captured in 1967, but adds that prisoners did not have all the pertinent information
Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar, a hardline leader of the terrorist Hamas group, on Saturday praised terrorists in Israeli jails who hammered out a proposal that would implicitly recognize Israel, but said the prisoners did not have all the pertinent information.
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The agreement was reached recently by terrorists, including the most senior Hamas prisoner, and calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War: the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
That implicit recognition of Israel would be a major shift for Hamas, which calls for replacing Israel with an Islamic state.
'This is a respectable idea'
Hamas leaders responded ambivalently to the document. Some have privately urged abandoning Hamas’ rejection of Israel in an effort to end the crippling international boycott of the new Hamas-led Palestinian Cabinet.
Hard-liners, including Zahar, reportedly reject that plan. “Our people inside the Israeli jails, they are brilliant people. We are very proud about their role. But they are concentrating about issues according to their information, restricted information,” Zahar said Saturday in English.
“This is a respectable idea, but it is not the final agreement of any of the Palestinian factions, including Hamas.”
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