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Hamas number two: All deals with Israel will be temporary

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An official high-up in the Hamas terrorist group has vowed to tear up agreements with Israel if it wins control of a future Palestinian state.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, who is said to be the organisation's second most powerful figure, told the Forward newspaper that any deal or treaty with Israel would be temporary.

He also said that Hamas would not recognise Israel

Abu Marzook, who is deputy director of Hamas's political wing, refused to countenance suggestions of direct negotiations with the Jewish state. "As long as there is an occupation on our land, we have the right to defend our land by all means, including military resistance," he said.

In a lengthy interview with a reporter for the American paper, he suggested he was unaware that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion – one of the most well-known antisemitic forgeries in history – were fabricated.

He also denied that Hamas, whose members fire rockets indiscriminately across the Gaza border into Israel, has a policy of targeting civilians. He said that when civilians were killed it was because "it's very difficult to make something like this to be perfect".

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