The question of whether Hamas would be willing to recognise the state of Israel to achieve the goal of establishing a Palestinian state for Gaza and the West Bank is “meaningless at this point in time”, Hamas official Husam Badran tells Al Jazeera.

“The real question that should be raised is why are Israelis continuing to wreak killings among our people and the destruction among all our properties — even mosques and places of worship, school buildings were not spared — denying water and food,” Badran told Al Jazeera.

“These are the questions to be raised to the Israeli occupation forces, not to us,” he said.

“Above all, the Palestinian people, till this day, have not had their independent state to recognise Israel. We are an occupied people, and we are doing all we can to rid our people and territories of the occupation,” he said.