Hamas has eased its stance on Israel after years of calling for the country’s destruction, as the Palestinian Islamist movement seeks to improve its international standing.
The policy announced today came two days before the first face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party remains deeply divided from Hamas.
The policy document was unveiled in the Qatari capital, Doha, by exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who is due to step down after serving his maximum of two terms. He said in an interview that he hoped the new US administration would “act with more seriousness on the Palestinian cause and change its misconceptions about the Palestinian people”.
His press conference was 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,” Mr Meshaal said at the event in a Doha hotel.
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