Palestinian resistance group Hamas has received “positive” responses from European countries on its new charter, a senior group leader said on 9 July. “Many European capitals have dealt positively with our new political document,” Osama Hamdan, head of international relations in Hamas, was reported as saying in an interview.
“We got positive responses from Sweden and Norway along with positive signs from Britain in addition to supportive positions from Russia and China,” he said. In May, Hamas unveiled a revised charter that accepts a Palestinian state along the borders set before Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
The U.S., however, said its position on Hamas remains unchanged despite the group’s new charter.
While Washington blacklisted Hamas in 1997, many countries consider the group a legitimate political actor.
“The U.S. administration always stands beside Israel, since they maintained the same position [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu adopted towards the document,” Hamdan said.
The Hamas leader said that his group is a resistance group seeking to liberate Palestinian lands occupied by Israel.
“We represent a lucid movement that struggles to restore usurped rights of its people, who have been living under occupation for decades,” he said.