Hamas said new US President Barack Obama's position toward the Palestinians does not represent change and will lead to the same mistakes as his predecessor. Thursday's remarks by Beirut-based Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan follow Obama's first public comments on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis since his inauguration.
Hamdan told the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television he expects Obama to experience failure in the region over the next four years if he sticks with his current position. Obama said Thursday that going forward Hamas must end rocket fire at Israel, and Israel must complete the withdrawal of its forces from Gaza. These steps were already taken this week.
