It’s well worth noting the change underway in Hamas. It has barely restocked its supply of rockets since Operation “Pillar of Defense,” it is arresting activists involved in shootings against Israeli targets, and it has shifted its efforts from building up its military force to maintaining peace and quiet.

This site has seen more than a few articles about the ideological turnabout underway in Hamas. It has transformed itself from a movement that adhered to terrorism and armed resistance into a movement striving to attain international legitimacy and which aims at coming to power throughout the entire Palestinian Authority in the upcoming elections.

There were clear indications that such a shift was happening: Not only was Khaled Meshaal, a “pragmatist,” re-elected chairman of the movement’s Political Bureau (April 1), but top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar, a leader of the hard-liners, was ejected from the Hamas leadership. Then there was the statement by the Hamas government’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ghazi Hamad that “Hamas agrees to accept a state within the 1967 borders,” and the leadership’s vigorous efforts to have Hamas removed from the list of terrorist organizations.

Facts on the ground are further evidence of changes