Khaled Meshaal: We are ready for compromise
In an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel, the former head of Hamas' political bureau announced the extremist organization's conditional readiness to compromise with Israel and expressed disappointment with Donald Trump's positions regarding the organization.
Khaled Meshaal, the former head of Hamas' political bureau who recently stepped down, has emphasized the organization's new pragmatic policy and approach in an interview. Meshaal says Hamas is ready to accept an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
Khaled Meshaal has stated that if Hamas feels that Israel has a serious will for peace, it is ready to compromise in return. However, he has defended resistance in its violent forms, saying: "This is not violence for us."
The former Hamas political leader says: "We defend ourselves with every military tool and means at our disposal. Of course, we would prefer to have the advanced weapons that Israel has."
Khaled Meshaal's interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel has not yet been published; however, the website "Spiegel Online" has published a summary and headlines of the conversation. Meshaal has also expressed disappointment with Donald Trump's positions and his recent speech in Riyadh. At the Arab-Islamic countries conference in Riyadh, the US president placed Hamas on the same level as Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Meshaal said that he does not accept such a comparison: "Such a comparison is a mistake and a great slander, because Hamas' resistance is limited only to Palestine and is against the Israeli occupation."
Meshaal stressed that Hamas members are "not bloodthirsty murderers who kill innocent people around the world."
Khaled Meshaal also said that he has no intention of one day succeeding Mahmoud Abbas in the Palestinian Authority. He called the presidency of the Palestinian Authority an unjust and illegitimate position that endorses the conditions of the occupiers.
Hamas recently announced that it would no longer pursue a policy of destroying Israel and would also distance itself from the Muslim Brotherhood. Following this announcement, Khaled Meshaal relinquished the political leadership of Hamas after two decades, to be succeeded by Ismail Haniyeh.
In its new charter, Hamas accepts the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, but still does not recognize the existence of Israel.
From the experts' perspective, Hamas is trying to re-enter international Middle East peace talks in this way.
Khaled Meshaal and Ismail Haniyeh both belong to the militant wing of Hamas in the conflict with Israel. Meshaal lives in exile in Doha, while Haniyeh remains in the Gaza Strip.
Source: DW
