Pat Dollard

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Jerusalem Post
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal arrived in Cairo on Sunday night for talks with Egyptian officials on the unity deal between Hamas and Fatah.

On the eve of the visit, Hamas reiterated its refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Mashaal and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are expected to sign the Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation agreement in Cairo on Wednesday.

Representatives of several Palestinian factions have also been invited to attend the signing ceremony in Cairo.

Mashaal’s deputy, Musa Abu Marzouk, was quoted on Sunday as saying that Hamas would not recognize Israel’s right to exist despite the agreement to form a Palestinian unity government.

“Hamas has a principled position regarding this issue,” Abu Marzouk said. “We won’t recognize the Zionist entity. Our rights are still usurped and it’s illogical for us to recognize the Zionist entity because that would be at the expense of our stolen lands and our people in the refugee camps.”

Abu Marzouk said that Hamas did not see any connection between recognizing Israel’s right to exist and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“Most of the Arab countries don’t recognize Israel and yet they continue to deal with the international community,” he said. “And many European countries did not recognize Israel until recently. Therefore the international community should not look into this issue.”