Hamas to present new resistance charter
PALESTINA - The Palestinian Hamas movement is expected to unveil a new version of its founding charter yesterday. The group, which controls Gaza, is due to reveal the new document in the Qatari capital Doha, where its leader Khaled Meshaal lives in exile.
The fundamentalist Islamic organization has long been under pressure to update its 1988 founding document, which calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and advocates the use of violence to achieve its goal of restoring a Palestinian state.
Critics have used the charter to argue that Hamas is antiSemitic and violent at its core. It began the process of creating a new document around a decade ago. It is not yet clear what the revamped charter might look like. Analysts will look for any softening of its language on Israel, its position on borders for a future Palestinian state, and whether it frames its struggle as more political than religious. Meshaal is expected to step down as leader of Hamas after serving the maximum two terms. The new leadership will be announced in the coming days, the French news agency AFP reported, quoting a Hamas official.
The new document’s publication comes ahead of the Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House tomorrow. (CNN)