Hamas says OK to truce with Israel

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The militant group Hamas will accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and a long-term truce with Israel, a leader said Friday, apparently softening Hamas' hardline stance and boosting hopes for renewed peace efforts after Yasser Arafat's death.

Sheik Hassan Yousef, a senior Hamas official in the West Bank, told The Associated Press he sees a truce in which Israel and a Palestinian state "live side-by-side in peace and security for a certain period."

Yousef's statements signal an apparent reversal of policy for Hamas, which has long sought to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic Palestinian state. The group has killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks during the past four years.

The group's top leaders, based outside the Palestinian areas, were unavailable for comment Friday on the policy change.

"Hamas has announced that it accepts a Palestinian independent state within the 1967 borders with a long-term truce," Yousef said, referring to lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

Yousef's comments indicated that four years of fighting with Israel — during which the military has targeted the group's top leaders — and the imposition of international sanctions have taken a toll.

Arafat's death last month and a drive by new PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas to renew talks with Israel after the Jan. 9 election for new Palestinian leader also appears to have changed Hamas' policy.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath welcomed the new Hamas position as a "positive step" and said the group informed the Palestinian Authority of their new policy during recent talks.

Until now, Hamas had rejected peace accords and carried out suicide bombings and other attacks, killing hundreds of people and badly damaging peace efforts.

Yousef said the Hamas position was new, calling it a "stage." In the past, Hamas has said it would accept a state in the 1967 borders as a first step to taking over Israel. Yousef did not spell out the conditions for the renewable cease-fire nor did he say how long it would last.

"For us, a truce means that two warring parties live side-by-side in peace and security for a certain period and this period is eligible for renewal," Yousef said. "That means Hamas accepts that the other party will live in security and peace."

Yousef said Hamas, which announced Wednesday it would boycott the January vote, still planned to participate in Palestinian politics.