Mashaal offers truce if Israel withdraws from 1967 lands

Apr 21, 12:37 PM EDT
By ALBERT AJI
Associated Press Writer
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal says his militant Islamic group will not recognize Israel.

The leader of Hamas says his Palestinian militant group is offering Israel a 10-year truce if it withdraws from all lands it seized in the 1967 war.


But Mashaal says Hamas will accept a Palestinian state on Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

The statement amounted to a tacit acceptance of Israel's right to exist alongside a Palestinian state, but without explicit recognition of the Jewish state.

Earlier, former President Jimmy Carter said that Hamas is prepared to accept the Jewish state's right to "live as a neighbor next door in peace." Carter met twice with Mashaal over the weekend.