Hamas acknowledges the existence of Israel is an established fact, the movement's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal said today, softening the militant group's previous refusal to recognise the Jewish state.
Israel is a "reality" and "there will remain a state called Israel, this is a matter of fact," Meshaal said in an interview. The problem was not Israel's existence but the failure to establish a state for Palestinians, said Meshaal, whose party leads the Palestinian government.
Formal recognition of the Jewish state could only be considered by Hamas once such a Palestinian state is established, said Meshaal.