Hamas edged toward recognition of Israel, a key international demand, in an
agreement worked out by Hamas and Fatah leaders in an Israeli prison, mentioning
a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza while refusing to renounce
violence.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of
the Islamic group Hamas attends a rally in Gaza City Thursday, May 11,
2006. Israel has agreed to release tens of millions of dollars it withheld
from the Palestinians after Hamas ascended to power and is considering
easing restrictions on the movement of goods between Israel and the Gaza
Strip, officials said Thursday. [AP] |
Israel refused to comment on the document on Thursday, and the Hamas
leadership in Damascus were also silent — but there was little reason to believe
either would welcome it.
Hamas leaders in Gaza and the West Bank have hinted they might abandon the
group's call for the destruction of Israel, but Khaled Mashaal, the Syria-based
leader of Hamas, has rejected any suggestion of moderation.
Also, the document included key Palestinian demands Israel has always
rejected — return of millions of refugees to their original homes in Israel and
complete Israeli evacuation of the West Bank,
Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Since Hamas won Jan. 25 parliamentary
elections, the Palestinian government has grown increasingly isolated. Western
nations, which list Hamas as a terror group, cut off all funding to the
Palestinian Authority, and the Israeli government froze its monthly transfer
of $55 million it collects in taxes for the Palestinians.
The economic boycott has left the Palestinian government unable to pay its
165,000 workers, causing a deepening financial crisis throughout the West Bank
and Gaza.
The draft agreement was negotiated over the past month by militants held in
Hadarim Prison next to the seaside Israeli city of Netanya, including Marwan
Barghouti, a leader of Abbas' Fatah Party, and Abdel Khaled Natche, the top
Hamas militant held by Israel.
The proposal calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state "in all the
lands occupied in 1967," a reference to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east
Jerusalem. The document does not include explicit recognition of Israel, but
even the implied recognition would mark a major breakthrough for Hamas.
