DAMASCUS (AFP) -- Hamas is ready to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders but “it will not recognize Israel,” the Islamic Resistance Movement's chief Khaled Meshaal told a news conference Monday.

“We accept a Palestinian state within the June 4 1967 borders with Jerusalem (Bait-ul-Moqaddas) as its capital -- a sovereign state without settlements -- as well as the right of Palestinian refugees to return, but without recognition of Israel,” he said.
Meshaal was making his first public comment following two meetings in Damascus with former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who said earlier Monday Hamas told him it would accept the right of Israel “to live as a neighbor” if a peace deal was approved by a Palestinian referendum.