Khaled Meshaal: We Are Ready for Reconciliation
The former head of Hamas’s political bureau announced in an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel the conditional readiness of the extremist organization for reconciliation with Israel, while expressing disappointment with Donald Trump’s positions regarding this organization.
Khaled Meshaal, the former head of Hamas’s political bureau who recently stepped down from this position, emphasized in an interview the new pragmatic policy and approach of this organization. Meshaal says Hamas is ready to accept an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
Khaled Meshaal announced that if Hamas feels Israel has serious intentions for peace, it is reciprocally ready for reconciliation. Nevertheless, he defended resistance in its violent forms, saying: “This is not violence for us.”
The former political leader of Hamas says: “We defend ourselves with every military tool and means at our disposal. Of course, we would have preferred to have the advanced weapons that Israel has.”
Khaled Meshaal’s interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel has taken place but has not yet been published; however, the website “Spiegel Online” has published a summary and main points of this conversation. Meshaal also expressed disappointment with Donald Trump’s positions and his recent speech in Riyadh. The U.S. President at the Arab-Islamic countries conference in Riyadh placed Hamas in the same category as al-Qaeda and ISIS. Meshaal said he does not accept such comparison: “Such a comparison is wrong and a great accusation, because Hamas’s resistance is limited only to Palestine and is against Israeli occupation.”
Meshaal emphasized that Hamas members are “not bloodthirsty killers who murder innocent people around the world.”
Khaled Meshaal also said he has no intention of becoming Mahmoud Abbas’s successor in the Palestinian Authority. He described the presidency of the Palestinian Authority as an unjust position lacking legitimacy that endorses the conditions of the occupiers.
The Hamas organization recently announced that it no longer pursues the policy of destroying Israel and will distance itself from the Muslim Brotherhood. Following this announcement, Khaled Meshaal handed over the political leadership of Hamas after two decades for Ismail Haniyeh to become his successor.
In its new charter, Hamas accepted the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders but still does not officially recognize the existence of Israel.
According to experts, Hamas is trying in this way to re-enter international negotiations for Middle Eastern peace.
Both Khaled Meshaal and Ismail Haniyeh belong to the pragmatist wing of Hamas in its conflict with Israel. Meshaal lives in exile in Doha while Haniyeh remains in the Gaza Strip.
Source: DW
