Responding to President Obama’s announcement that Israel must retreat to its 1967 borders as a basis for peace with the Palestinians, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said that those borders might not be enough. The Jerusalem Postreports,

According to Zahar, the 1967 borders, while “sacred,” were not the final borders on which the Palestinians should settle.Speaking to Al-Emirate Al-Youm, Zahar asked, “Why won’t we talk about the 1948 borders? Why won’t we discuss the partition plan which was internationally recognized?”

The 1948 borders that Zahar is discussing were part of a 1947 UN partition plan which divided up the territory as a basis for both Jewish and Palestinian statehood following the Second World War. This plan was accepted by the Israelis, but rejected by Arab and Palestinian factions. Astoundingly, had the Palestinians accepted that plan, they would have had more land than a proposed Palestinian state along the 1967 borders today.

By asking for an Israeli withdrawal to the 1948 borders, Zahar reveals that a state based on the 1967 borders is not the endgame for the Palestinians, but rather a stepping stone toward their goal of complete eradication of the Jews from the Middle East.