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Hamas Official: We Will Liberate the West Bank Just Like Gaza

At a rally held in advance of Hamas’ 27th anniversary, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar proclaimed that his organization would take over the West Bank “just as we liberated Gaza,” according to a translation of the speech published yesterday by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Speaking at a December 12 rally in Khan Younes, Hamas political bureau member Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said: “Anyone who thinks that we will recognize the existence of the [Zionist] entity or the 1967 borders is deluded… Palestine stretches from the Egyptian border in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean sea in the west, and we will never recognize anything less than this.” He added: “If part of our land is liberated, we will establish our state in that part without relinquishing even an inch of the rest. Just as we liberated Gaza and established a genuine administration in it, [with] an army and security apparatuses that defend us, rather than the Israeli enemy [unlike those of the PA], we will do the same in the West Bank, as a prelude to attaining all of Palestine.”

Al-Zahhar called to grant freedom of action to the people in the West Bank, “who invent means of resistance that the occupation never imagined, such as vehicular [attacks] and stabbings.” He also harshly attacked the PA and its president, accusing them of treason against the Palestinian people, saying: “The West Bank is suffering from two conflicts: [a conflict] with the Israeli enemy, which is directing its weapons at its face, and [another conflict] with the PA, which is stabbing it in the back while purporting to govern Palestine… Al-Zahhar called on the people of the West Bank to “get rid of the traitors first, so that we can get rid of the occupation.” He also urged Fatah “to become real partners in the liberation of Palestine, and [steer] clear of [intra-Palestinian] squabbling.”

Al-Zahar’s boast comes just a few months after Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, broke up a Hamas coup attempt in the West Bank targeting the ruling Fatah party. Late last month, the Shin Bet announced that it had broken up another major Hamas cell in the West Bank, this one dedicated to terror attacks against Israel.

On Sunday, at its 27th anniversary celebration, Hamas burned a Jew in effigy and boasted of its military support from Iran.

[Photo: AFPBB News / YouTube ]