With Hamas expected to hold elections in the coming weeks to select new leaders, media attention has turned to the movement releasing a new policy document in the near future that will reflect its current stance toward political events and lay out a road map for its foreign relations. Al-Monitor shed light on the document's development last October, but it remains unclear to observers — and is thought to be a topic of debate within Hamas — whether it is simply a policy statement or an amendment of Hamas’ founding principles laid out in its 1988 charter.

Sami Khater, a member of Hamas' political bureau, told Al-Monitor, “The policy document reflects Hamas' orientation 30 years after its inception, in 1987. It does not constitute a review of its positions on the liberation of Palestinian territories, although it shows flexibility in terms of the conflict with the Israeli occupation. It stresses that [Hamas] is a national Palestinian movement that has its own institutions and makes decisions that are not dictated by any foreign party. The document affirms that Islam is its ideological reference and is an expression of Hamas’ political and intellectual maturity.”

Hamas may be trying to redefine itself via the document. A Hamas Shura Council member based abroad and speaking on the condition of anonymity told Al-Monitor, “The document employs toned-down language designed to break [the movement] out of its international isolation. It is still unclear how the document is going to define ties between Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The regional circumstances may not be favorable for Hamas to remain within the Brotherhood's sphere, which has hindered its ties with Arab parties who have designated the Brotherhood a terrorist group, such as Egypt. The document may avoid addressing organizational ties between Hamas and the Brotherhood, which were explicitly stated in the Hamas charter.”

Osama Amer, a Palestinian political writer based in Egypt who is familiar with the document through leaks, told Al-Monitor, “The Hamas document reflects a shift in dealing with dossiers that have changed since the charter was issued in the 1980s. Hamas must find new means to deal with the new reality, such as agreeing on the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, affirming that the conflict with Israel is a conflict with an occupying power, not with the Jews as adherents of a religion. Although the charter confirms that Hamas is a branch of the Brotherhood, limiting the movement’s activity to Palestine will assuage countries facing tense relations with Hamas, since [the movement] is closely linked to the Brotherhood at the ideological level only.”