• Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh explained in December 2010, "We said it five years ago and we say it now ... we will never, we will never, we will never recognize Israel."

In a December 2010 statement, the group noted, "We say that Palestine from the sea to the (Jordan) river is fully the land of the Palestinians. We will cede none of it, and we will not recognise the so-called state of Israel."

• Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said in November 2010 that the Jews "have no place among us...and no future among the nations." Where are the Jews to go? Al-Zahar predicts: "You are about to disappear, and we are about to emerge victorious."

• Zahar also said in June 2010, "Our plan for this stage is to liberate any inch of Palestinian land, and to establish a state on it. Our ultimate plan is [to have] Palestine in its entirety. I say this loud and clear so that nobody will accuse me of employing political tactics. We will not recognize the Israeli enemy."

• A November 2007 Hamas statement asserted, "It is not shameful to correct a mistake. Palestine is Arab-Islamic land from the river to the sea, including Jerusalem, and Jews have no place there"

• Khaled Meshal in December 2006 called Israel a "cancer that must be pulled out by its roots."

