Hamas Marks 21st Anniversary, Truce Unlikely Renewed

Source: Al-Manar TV, 14-12-2008
Hundreds of thousands of Hamas supporters marked the Resistance group's 21st anniversary with an outdoor rally Sunday, confirming once again their standing side by side with the movement against the occupation and the non-human siege.
Organizers said some 300,000 Hamas supporters crowded into a dusty outdoor arena and spilled over into nearby streets. Many waved flags and donned baseball caps in the Resistance group's signature green color.
Hamas, founded in Gaza in December 1987, is sworn to liberating Palestine and has carried out dozens of martyrdom operations along this path.
Meanwhile, the extension of a soon to expire ceasefire deal between "Israel" and Hamas was in doubt as both parties expressed they would not renew the truce. "After these months (the ceasefire), the factions here in Gaza and abroad have had several meetings to evaluate the truce, and to evaluate "Israel's" behavior with this truce. In the end, the factions' evaluation of the position of the Zionist enemy was negative," Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Hanieh told the crowd.
Haniyeh said Hamas was only strengthened by "Israeli" sanctions. "It is a letter to Obama, to the Zionists and those who stand in the same trenches as them: We say with confidence, you will not be victorious," Hanieh declared.
Also on Sunday, the head of Hamas political bureau Khaled Meshaal said that it was unlikely that the truce with the Zionist entity in and around the Gaza Strip would be renewed when it expires next week.
"Khaled Meshaal said that it is most likely that the truce will not be renewed," Hamas said in a statement, adding that the comments were made in a television interview to be broadcast on Sunday.
The comments by Meshaal, who lives in exile in Damascus, came as "Israeli" and Egyptian officials met in Cairo on renewing the six-month truce which was agreed under Egyptian mediation in June.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for "Israel's" outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Mark Regev, said that "Israel" has been willing and continues to be willing to abide by the understandings reached through Egypt. "But it's clear that there can't be a one-sided ceasefire and "Israel" cannot unilaterally accept a situation where rockets are everyday coming from the Gaza Strip targeting "Israeli" citizens," he claimed.
On Sunday, "Israel" said its border crossings into the impoverished coastal strip would remain closed after claiming that Palestinian fighters launched mortar rounds into southern "Israel", causing no casualties or damage. For more than a month, "Israel" has banned reporters from entering the territory, causing a non-human siege against Palestinians.