On May 1, then-head of Hamas’ political bureau Khaled Meshaal announced the movement’s new General Principles and Policies Document during a press conference held at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, in the presence of Hamas leaders as well as Palestinian and Arab media and political figures.

The document included 42 items, most notably, a definition of the movement and an official statement that it accepts a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, without relinquishing the rest of the territories occupied in 1948. In addition, Hamas presented itself as a movement of liberation and Palestinian national resistance, without mentioning the Muslim Brotherhood as its organizational and ideological authority.

On May 5, Quds Press cited Meshaal as saying that Hamas’ new policy comforts its allies, namely Turkey, Qatar and some countries and parties around the world, as it is easier for them to convey this document to all regional and international forums. This is because Hamas softened some of its positions in the document, namely accepting a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

At a conference on Palestine held in Istanbul on May 8, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the document as an important step both for the Palestinian cause and for the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. He said that the only way to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the 1967 borders.