Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal used a recent speech, carried by Arabic-language media outlet Al-Hayat, to emphasize that Hamas will not accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel. His statement is in tension with recent second-hand leaks the effect that Mashaal was ready to compromise on Hamas’s commitment to the eradication of the Jewish state. The stance does however echo the statements last week of senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq, who described rumors that the group was ready to accept Israel as “baseless,” and of senior Hamas official Yahya Moussa, who emphasized that Hamas will not change its commitment to Israel’s destruction and its replacement with an Islamic state.