Pictured Above: Masked terrorists from the “military wing” of Hamas near the Israeli border with Rafah in southern Gaza, March 30. Credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.

(JNS.org) The Gaza-ruling terror group Hamas released a new policy document Monday in a bid to soften its image, while calling for a Palestinian state in accordance with the pre-1967 lines.

“Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea,” the document stated.  “However, without compromising its rejection of the Zionist entity (Israel) and without relinquishing any Palestinian rights, Hamas considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967, with the return of the refugees and the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled, to be a formula of national consensus.”

Prior to the release of the document, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office was quick to dismiss any purported policy changes by the Palestinian terror group, saying, “When Hamas stops building tunnels and spends its resources on civilian infrastructure and ceases educating toward killing Israelis—that will be true change. But that hasn’t happened.” 

According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington-based think tank, Hamas’s new policy document is a "ploy" by the terror group to gain greater appeal among the international community and the Palestinian population.

“This is not a sign of moderation so much as a ploy to end the faction’s international isolation,” FDD said in a memo. “The other element of this new document is the internal Palestinian political angle. In acknowledging the 1967 borders and dropping its call for Israel’s destruction, Hamas is making a play at the rival party Fatah’s supporters.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads Fatah, is scheduled Wednesday to arrive in the U.S. for his first official visit since President Donald Trump took office.

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