JERUSALEM — A leader of Hamas said Friday that the militant group could endorse the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, hinting at acceptance of Israel's right to exist.
However, it was unclear whether the official, Sheik Hassan Yousef, spoke with the full backing of the organization. Israel called his statements highly conditional and said they would need to be backed by deeds.
Hamas, which is formally known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, has long been committed to Israel's destruction. It has killed and maimed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.
The group has joined other Palestinian factions jockeying for influence in advance of the Jan. 9 election to replace the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. Although Hamas is boycotting the vote, it enjoys a wide following among Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, and its views carry considerable weight.
In recent days, it has issued several statements that could point to a softening of its stance -- accompanied, however, by demands Israel considers unacceptable.
Hamas says it seeks a pullout of all Israeli forces and Jewish settlers from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, together with sovereignty over East Jerusalem, the release of all Palestinian prisoners and the removal of the separation wall Israel is building in the West Bank.
"Everything I am saying about the possibility of a cease-fire and a sovereign Palestinian state is in line with statements by Sheik Ahmed Yassin," Yousef said in a telephone interview from the West Bank town of Ramallah, referring to the Hamas spiritual leader who was assassinated by Israel in March.
The West Bank leadership of Hamas, of which Yousef is part, is considered less influential than its policymaking echelon in the Gaza Strip and outside the Palestinian territories, primarily in Syria. However, Yousef was recently released from nearly two years in an Israeli prison, and jail time customarily bestows a measure of prestige on the militant leaders.
An Israeli official said that despite a lull in attacks by militant groups since Arafat's death Nov. 11, he saw no reason to think that Hamas' ideology had undergone any meaningful change.
"I'd like Hamas to turn into a democratic party, but there is no indication they are about to do so," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "I haven't seen any serious questioning of the principles of jihad or anyone saying the strategy of suicide bombings is morally offensive."
