[Jerusalem Post] Hamas can direct an intifada even if it sits in power, Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Mashaal cautioned on Tuesday, adding that the hudna (calm), like violence, was a Palestinian tactic in the conflict with Israel. Even the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza and West Bank will not move Hamas to recognize Israel, as Palestinian lands would still remain "occupied," Mashaal told the Lebanese newspaper Al Safir. Mashaal reiterated threats to renew the "resistance" against Israel if the international community failed to set up a framework for a Palestinian state defined by the 1967 borders within six months, and assure the refugees' right of return. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, speaking at the al-Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria, said his government did not condemn resistance but embraced it. He emphasized that the Palestinian people would not give up a "single grain of the land of Palestine, nor would it relinquish the right of return for Palestinian refugees." ()
2006-12-06 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive