Hamas: Resistance will free Palestine

Hamas leader says resistance is the only way that Palestinians can liberate all of historic Palestine from the Israeli occupiers.

For this, a united front should be formed of all Palestinian factions, including Fatah, Mahmoud Zahhar said Thursday during a brief news conference in Gaza organized to mark the 23rd anniversary of the founding of Hamas.

Talking to 400 demonstrators outside his home in Gaza City, Zahhar stressed, “Israeli occupation will end. It does not have any future among us. Our Palestinian principles are not up for negotiation by anyone. Humanity is a sacred value to us as well as our land, which is not subject to elections, or referendum, or compromises, buying or selling.”

He also urged the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank to allow “resistance” to resume against the Israeli regime, Maan news agency reported.

Addressing the Western world, he said, “We are not your enemies, your enemies are those who send your soldiers into failed wars in Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan.”

After his speech, Zahar and two Hamas supporters torched an Israeli flag.

Israel captured East al-Quds (Jerusalem) during the Six-Day War in 1967 and later annexed it, a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

Settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories are considered illegal under the international law.