Visiting the Gaza Strip for the first time in his life, the exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, has vowed to continue fighting Israel until the entire land of Palestine was "liberated." Mashaal told a crowd of Hamas supporters in Gaza City: "We are not giving up any inch of Palestine. It will remain Islamic and Arab for us and nobody else. Jihad and armed resistance is the only way." Mashaal added: “From the sea to the river, from north to south, we will not give up any part of Palestine. It is our country, our right and our homeland."He also stressed that Hamas could not recognize Israel’s legitimacy.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Islamist movement that controls Gaza since 2007 Mashaal was seen together with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The two men emerged from a door built into a large model of a rocket fired at Israeli cities during the recent fighting, and other senior members of the group. At the gathering some children wore military uniforms and others carried guns. Masked gunmen holding automatic rifles flanked the podium where Mashaal gave his speech.
The 56-year-old Mashaal, who left the West Bank as a child and now leads Hamas from the Gulf state of Qatar, entered the coastal enclave on Friday via Egypt, for the first time ever and after a long exile from Palestinian territory, to attend the mass rally.
A spokesmen for Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, warned Israelis to prepare their passports. “We fought the Zionist entity with limited power. What will happen when we fight with all our might? Zionists, you should prepare your passports and get ready to disappear,” he was quoted by the 'Times of Israel' as saying.
In a special message released in honor of the anniversary, Hamas leaders vowed to continue the path of resistance and jihad “to liberate Palestine.” It said: “The great crimes perpetrated against us by the Zionist occupation only fuel our desire to resist and fight."
On Sunday, Mashaal paid a visit to Gaza University where he praised the attacks on Tel Aviv last month and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home would be destroyed the next time hostilities between Israel and Hamas flared up.
Netanyahu condemned the remarks by the Hamas leader. At the weekly meeting of the Israeli Cabinet, the prime minister said Israel's enemies had again proven that they were not interested in compromise.
Israel, the US and the European Union list Hamas as a terrorist organization.
