Palestine’s Hamas movement is moving towards declaring a Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders, without first recognizing an Israeli state, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Wednesday.
Any official statement concerning alterations to the charter, issued by the bloc governing the Gaza Strip, will be verified and released after holding elections in April.
The 1967 borders, advocated by former US president Barack Obama, refer to the armistice lines from before the Six-Day War, when Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, among other lands, expanding its territory beyond the “Green Line” borders delineated by a 1949 armistice between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
It is expected that the announcement will also include the movement’s “separation from any foreign body or organization," in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Asharq Al-Awsat quoted Hamas sources as saying.
The newspaper said the aforementioned amendments constitute a major shift in rhetoric to that used by the movement 29 years ago, when it considered itself the "Palestine wing of the Muslim Brotherhood".
"All of Hamas bodies, whether affiliated with its political wing or military brigades, contributed to drafting this declaration,” sources added. “Amendments were made during a meeting held in Qatar’s capital Doha."
The report said the meeting was attended by Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal, former prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority Ismail Haniyeh and senior Hamas member Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook. They are awaiting the declaration to be reviewed and approved by the movement’s consultative councils post-election.
