Hamas seen facing long path to end isolation despite new policy

JERUSALEM: Hamas has softened its stance on Israel after long calling for its destruction, but the Palestinian movement must do more to convince the world to end its isolation, analysts and diplomats said Tuesday, reports AFP. The Islamist movement, which runs the Gaza Strip, unveiled a new policy document on Monday night ahead of a first face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah party remains at loggerheads with Hamas.Some analysts see the move as an attempt by Hamas to ease tension with regional allies and assuage hostilities with global powers.
Speculation has also mounted over who will succeed 82-year-old Abbas, whose Fatah movement is based in the occupied West Bank, as Palestinian president.
Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union, while it has strained relations with many Arab states.
Some diplomats said while the announcement was potentially positive, they would need more to convince them the party had really changed its approach.
"It is a piece of paper. We will see if there is a real shift or if it is window dressing," one Western diplomat said.
While still attacking Israel, the document accepts for the first time pre-1967 armistice lines as a matter of "national consensus" -- in what many interpreted as implicitly accepting the existence of Israel.
Hamas officials however said that it did not amount to a recognition of Israel as demanded by the international community.
The document also says its struggle is not against Jews because of their religion but against Israel as an occupier, with Hamas officials stressing it was a shift.
One Hamas leader, Ahmed Yusef, 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."
However the Islamist movement will still not negotiate directly with Israel and the original hardline 1988 charter will not be dropped, just supplemented, in a move some analysts see as a way of maintaining the backing of hardliners.Israel rejected the document, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman accusing Hamas of "attempting to fool the world."
Israel has fought three wars with Hamas since 2008 and maintains a crippling blockade on Gaza.

 

Hamas seen facing long path to end isolation despite new policy

JERUSALEM: Hamas has softened its stance on Israel after long calling for its destruction, but the Palestinian movement must do more to convince the world to end its isolation, analysts and diplomats said Tuesday, reports AFP. The Islamist movement, which runs the Gaza Strip, unveiled a new policy document on Monday night ahead of a first face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah party remains at loggerheads with Hamas.Some analysts see the move as an attempt by Hamas to ease tension with regional allies and assuage hostilities with global powers. Speculation has also mounted over who will succeed 82-year-old Abbas, whose Fatah movement is based in the occupied West Bank, as Palestinian president. Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union, while it has strained relations with many Arab states. Some diplomats said while the announcement was potentially positive, they would need more to convince them the party had really changed its approach. It is a piece of paper. We will see if there is a real shift or if it is window dressing, one Western diplomat said. While still attacking Israel, the document accepts for the first time pre-1967 armistice lines as a matter of national consensus -- in what many interpreted as implicitly accepting the existence of Israel. Hamas officials however said that it did not amount to a recognition of Israel as demanded by the international community. The document also says its struggle is not against Jews because of their religion but against Israel as an occupier, with Hamas officials stressing it was a shift. One Hamas leader, Ahmed Yusef, 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. However the Islamist movement will still not negotiate directly with Israel and the original hardline 1988 charter will not be dropped, just supplemented, in a move some analysts see as a way of maintaining the backing of hardliners.Israel rejected the document, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus spokesman accusing Hamas of attempting to fool the world. Israel has fought three wars with Hamas since 2008 and maintains a crippling blockade on Gaza.