Haaretz
Adar 10, 5767
The head of the Hamas political bureau,
Khaled Meshal, reiterated on Tuesday that his organization was not willing
to recognize Israel. Speaking at a joint press conference following a
meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Meshal said that
Israel must end the occupation and the suffering of the Palestinian people
and "only then will the Palestinians make their position [on recognition]
clear."
Other Hamas spokesmen told Haaretz on Tuesday that the
Mecca agreement, in which Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a government of
national unity, has not altered in any way the Islamist organization's
stance on Israel.
The Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Ismail
Radwan, said that the organization will never negotiate with
Israel.
Radwan clarified that Hamas' willingness to agree to a
state within the 1967 borders is only one part of the multi-stage solution
it envisions.
"We have not given up in any way our position
regarding the territory of Palestine," he said.
"We are willing to
consider a possibility for a long-term hudna [cease-fire] if the Zionist
enemy releases the Palestinian prisoners and the refugees return to their
homes.
No more. The Mecca agreement has to do with the government,
not Hamas," he added.
A different spokesman of the organization in
the Gaza Strip, Fauzi Barhum, said that "Hamas has decided to show a
political horizon, but our position is clear. All the land of Palestine
[from the sea to the river] belongs to the Palestinians and Israel is the
enemy. However, our political horizon offers a hudna for 15-20 years, in
return for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders,
the return of the refugees and the release of the prisoners."
At
the Moscow press conference, the Russian foreign minister said Meshal had
promised an end to the Qassam rocket attacks against
Israel.
Calling on Hamas to use its strength to end the violence
against Israel, Lavrov said that "we have received confirmation that such
steps will be adopted," referring to an end to the rocket
attacks.
The Russian foreign minister also promised that his
country would work toward lifting the international embargo on the
Palestinian Authority and will support the new unity
government.
"Russia supports the understandings reached between
Hamas and Fatah over the sharing of power, because they are an expression
of reason, wisdom and responsibility toward the Palestinian people," he
said.
The senior Russian official added that his country was
working to ensure that "all the members of the international community
will support this process, including efforts to lift the
embargo."
Two weeks ago Russian president Vladimir Putin met with
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and told him that he hoped
the establishment of a unity government would result in ending the embargo
on the PA.
Russia is a member of the Quartet which also
comprises the UN, the EU and the United States. The Quartet has
conditioned the resumption of ties with the government of the PA and the
renewal of aid transfers on Palestinian recognition of Israel,
renunciation of violence and acceptance of earlier accords between Israel
and the PLO.
France has also hinted recently that it may support
lifting the embargo.
On Sunday, French President Jacques Chirac
declared that his country would recommend to the European Union "to
support the Palestinian efforts to establish a new unity
government."
Chirac said that he would ask the EU to support the
unity government during the March summit of EU leaders, but did not
specify what practical steps this support would entail.
Meanwhile,
Palestinian sources told Haaretz on Tuesday that in spite of the
cease-fire between Hamas and Fatah and the agreement on a unity
government, the two sides are preparing for the possibility of renewed
fighting.