A Hamas spokesman has reiterated that the new Hamas-led coalition government will neither recognize Israel nor stop terror. According to Hamas spokesman Mushir Al-Masri, Hamas interprets the Mecca agreement to mean that the Arab and Islamic worlds have accepted them as they are, and that "international legitimization" will follow.

The following are excerpts from the article:

Hamas movement spokesman, Mushir Al-Masri, said: “Hamas remains as it is: following its principles. It did not retreat, but advanced forward.” He confirmed that it will not recognize Israel, will not abandon the resistance [i.e. terror] and will not discard its principles.” He further said: “The Hamas [that existed] prior to the government, is Hamas of the government. Hamas prior to the unity [government] is Hamas after the unity.”

This was said during a rally organized yesterday by the Islamic University student council, as part of a series of activities of identification with the university. Thousands of university students and a group of representatives from the Legislative Council and ministers participated in the rally…Al-Masri added: “Hamas received national legitimization through the gathering of masses around it and around the option of resistance [i.e., terror] and received legislative legitimization through its victory in the Legislative Council elections. It now received Arab and Islamic legitimization and will receive international legitimization.” [Al-Ayyam, February 12, 2007]