Meshaal: 'we do not target civilians'

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal has said his group do not target civilians, but do lack the sophisticated weaponry needed to target exclusively Israeli military sites.

"We do not target civilians, and we try most of the time to aim at military targets and Israeli bases," Meshaal told reporters in Qatar.

"But we admit that we have a problem. We do not have sophisticated weapons. We do not have the weapons available to our enemy…so aiming is difficult. We do promise you, though, that we will try in the future and we will warn people…We have given warnings to Israeli civilians. We promise that if we get more precise weapons, we will only target military targets."

Meshaal also rejected accusations by Israeli politicians that Hamas are bedfellows with the Islamic State.

"We are not a religious, violent group," he said, describing the Islamic State as a "totally different phenomenon. We are fighting against aggression in our land."