In the “I’ll Believe…

In the “I’ll Believe It When I See It” Department, Hamas says it’ll negotiate with Israel under some preconditions.

Hamas is “interested” in Israeli peace proposals and may be willing to negotiate indirectly with the Jewish state, Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip, said in an exclusive interview while ruling out the possibility of his terror group disarming or ceasing “resistance” attacks.

“If the Israelis have an offer to be discussed and [the offer includes] two very important points – the release of all [Palestinian] detainees and a stop of all Israeli aggression, including the process of withdrawal from the West Bank…then we are going to search for an effective and constructive process [that will bring this] at the end,” said al-Zahar in an interview with WorldNetDaily’s Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein and ABC Radio’s John Batchelor broadcast on Batchelor’s national program.

Hamas has targeted civilians in its fight for a Palestinian state, which would make it a terrorist group in the eyes of most. And yet that detail doesn’t seem to have bothered a lot of Palestinians.

Hamas last month was largely victorious in local municipal elections in Gaza and the West Bank, and is expected to do well in Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled for Wednesday.

Analysts expect Hamas will join a coalition government with the currently ruling Fatah party.

The main reason I’m very skeptical of all this is that their mission statement hasn’t changed.

The official Hamas charter calls for the destruction of Israel by “assaulting and killing,” and rejects all peace talks with the Jewish state.

Doesn’t sound like a group interested in negotiations.

(Cross-posted to Stones Cry Out. Comments welcome.)

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