Hamas has said that it envisions a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel, a senior Hamas official told reporters in an interview in Gaza City late Tuesday night, in what might be the group's first public recognition of the state of Israel.

The statement, unprecedented in an organization which had called for the eventual destruction of Israel, closely followed reports by both Israeli and Egyptian officials that Hamas is on the brink of declaring a cease-fire with Israel.

Hamas has come under intense, Egyptian, Palestinian, European and American pressure in recent weeks to curb terrorism against Israel, enabling the road map to move forward.

"What is the point in speaking in rhetoric," said Abu Shanab, "lets be frank, we cannot destroy Israel. The practical solution is for us to have a state along side Israel."

One of five top officials of the group, Abu Shanab is known as a moderate among Hamas ranks. The moderate tenor of his statements have often conflicted with the inciting rhetoric of the more militant Hamas leaders like the group's number two, Abdel Aziz Rantici.

According to Hamas political insiders, last week's attempted assassination of Hamas number two, Abdel Aziz Rantici, also indicated that Israel is no longer willing to distinguish between the group's political and military wings, effectively lifting an invisible blanket of immunity from many of its leaders.

"When we build a palestinan state," Abu Shanab, an engineer by trade continued, "we will not need these militias; all the needs for attack [against Israel] will stop. Everything will change into a civil life."

"[The future Palestinian state] is not one that is to take place of Israel" he said.

He noted that the Palestinian state he envisions will not supercede Israel "but one that lives with it," largely because it could face destruction in a full-scale war against Israel. "Israel's balance of power is much greater than the whole Arab world combined. It is strong enough to make for stability for the rest of our lives, and beyond that as well," he said. [...]