GAZA CITY, Dec 15: Tens of thousands of people rallied in central Gaza City on Saturday to mark Hamas’s 20th anniversary, in a show of force six months after the Islamist movement seized control of the territory.

Waving green flags and banners, throngs of Palestinians poured into Katiba Square ahead of the rally at which Hamas leader Ismail Haniya and other officials reaffirmed their commitment to armed struggle against Israel.

“Resistance and jihad (holy struggle) is the best path to

the liberation of Palestine, not negotiations and meetings, sitting at round tables and exchanging smiles and chuckles with the Jews,” Haniya told the crowd.

The rally was the largest show of strength since the Islamists seized control in Gaza in June, routing forces loyal to president Mahmud Abbas and futher deepening the economic and political isolation of the coastal strip.

Speaking from the main podium and wearing a green Hamas baseball cap Haniya again called for dialogue with his Fatah rivals “without conditions,” accusing Abbas’s government in the West Bank town of Ramallah of preventing a return to unity.

“We are for dialogue and we call for it and welcome it, but the door to dialogue there (in Ramallah) has been closed. We say there should be a dialogue with no winners, no losers, and no conditions,” he said.—AFP