RAMALLAH, West Bank — When Khaled Meshaal, the former head of Hamas' political bureau, announced a Hamas policy document May 1 from Doha, Qatar, this brought a critical response from Islamic Jihad.

Strong relations have always existed between Islamic Jihad and Hamas, not only because both movements are Islamist, but also because they have both embraced armed resistance against Israel as the sole option to liberate Palestine. This is in addition to their military cooperation in the Gaza Strip and joint political stances rejecting PLO political discourse based on negotiations and recognizing Israel.

Islamic Jihad criticized the policy document where Hamas agreed on the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, considering it to be a topic of national consensus. Ziad al-Nakhla, the deputy leader of Islamic Jihad, said in a press interview May 6, “We are ungratified with a part of the document. … The document evolved toward a dead end — toward the quest for solutions and medium solutions to the Palestinian cause under the umbrella of so-called international legitimacy.”

Nakhla added, “Hamas' agreeing on the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders is not welcome. This is against the national consensus and would reproduce the labyrinth caused by the PLO's interim program.”