Ghazi Hamad: Hamas Agrees To Accept State Within '67 Borders
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, the deputy foreign minister of the Hamas government, Ghazi Hamad, explains the far-reaching change in attitudes under way in his movement and the unchanged approach of not recognizing Israel.
Ghazi Hamad, deputy foreign minister in the Hamas government, is thought to be one of the people spearheading the movement’s pragmatic wing. Two years ago, the secret channel of communication he maintained with Gershon Baskin led to a breakthrough in the protracted negotiations over the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, in exchange for the release of over 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. There can be no doubt that the results of these negotiations earned Hamad a position of honor within the Hamas movement and, more broadly, among the Palestinian public.
Hamad is considered to be very close to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, whom he once served as spokesman, and to the chief of Hamas' political bureau, Khaled Meshaal, the movement’s newly reelected leader.
