Hamas edges toward recognising Israel

However, top Hamas leaders have not yet responded to the proposal, and since taking power Hamas has sent conflicting signals about its willingness to accept the international community’s conditions for doing business with it.

The Hamas official said his group accepts all the major points of the prisoners’ proposal, though it will seek some revisions. He spoke on condition of anonymity, saying Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh planned to address the matter later in the day.

The draft agreement was negotiated over the past month by militants held in an Israeli prison, including Abdel Khaled Natche, the top Hamas member held by Israel, and Marwan Barghouti, the senior Fatah prisoner. The proposal calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state ‘‘in all the lands occupied in 1967,’’ a reference to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

The document does not include explicit recognition of Israel, but signals acceptance of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH