Senior Hamas member Moussa Abu Marzouq said Monday that "there's no doubt that there is a realistic recognition on our part of Israel, that Israel exists in the territory – and there's no signing agreements with an imaginary body but with a body that exists."
"Israel exists and we all acknowledge these agreements. The problem is not that, it is the demands made on Hamas. Our problem is that there is a demand to recognize the legitimacy of the occupation – and to that we won't agree," Abu Marzouq, the deputy of Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mesha'al, told the Israeli-Palestinian radio station "All For Peace."
Meanwhile, the PFLP on Monday voiced readiness to take part in the Hamas-led PA government following a lengthy meeting between its delegates and that of Hamas. Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, the prominent Hamas leader and head of its parliamentary bloc, led the Hamas delegation, Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil, Hamas speaker in the PLC said, adding that the meeting was "amicable, practical and successful".
According to PIC, he said the Hamas delegates listened to the PFLP views on various political and internal issues and that many points of agreement were reached during that meeting.
For his part, one of the PFLP leaders, Kayed Al-Ghool, told a press conference after the meeting that Hamas delegates affirmed their rejection of political detention and emphasized that the Movement would seek the release of PFLP secretary general Ahmed Saadat, also an elected MP, from his PA jail in Jericho.
Later, Hamas delegates met Islamic Jihad representatives, who rejected the offer to join the cabinet.
