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Hamas Leaders Defiant Despite Poverty, Isolation

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By IBRAHIM BARZAK, The Associated Press

Published: December 16, 2007

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinians flooded the streets of the Gaza Strip by the tens of thousands Saturday in the biggest show of support for Hamas since the Islamic militants seized the territory in June.

Leader Ismail Haniyeh vowed in speeches on the 20th anniversary of the movement's founding that Hamas will not compromise its hard-line views despite growing isolation, poverty and popular support for the rival West Bank government of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Since Hamas wrested control from Abbas' Fatah forces, Gaza's 1.5 million residents have been virtually cut off from the outside world, with Israel and Egypt refusing to fully reopen crossings with the coastal territory. Unemployment has risen to about 50 percent, forcing poverty up to 75 percent, Palestinian officials say.

"The message from you today is that Hamas and these masses will not yield before the sanctions," Haniyeh told the cheering onlookers who waved green Islamic flags at the rally in Gaza City.

Haniyeh lambasted the renewal of peace talks between Israel and Abbas' administration in the United States last month, warning they will not bring about a cessation of Israeli settlement construction on disputed land or yield any other Israeli concessions.

The Hamas leader warned Abbas against conceding in peace talks on the Palestinian demand that refugees who fled past wars with Israel and their descendants be allowed to return to their homes. Their fate is a key sticking point in the talks that are meant to iron out a final peace agreement.

The throngs of Hamas supporters gathered in a sandy lot and along nearby streets. There appeared to be several thousand more people than attended a rally by backers of Hamas' rival, Fatah, who gathered on the same spot in November in what was seen as a major challenge to Hamas.

That rally, which an Associated Press reporter estimated at more than 250,000 people, ended in mayhem with Hamas police opening fire and protesters hurling rocks or running for cover. Seven civilians were killed and dozens were wounded in the violence between Palestinian factions.

In an anniversary message to Hamas TV, the group's top leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal, said Hamas will not abandon violence.

"This is our real choice, our trump card, which causes the enemy to succumb to us," he said.

In his speech, Haniyeh rejected Abbas' conditions for negotiations between the rival movements, including that Hamas give up its power in Gaza.

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