Thousands rally in Gaza to back Hamas

Group observes 21st year, mocks Israeli captive

Tens of thousands of Palestinians marked the anniversary of Hamas yesterday at a rally in Gaza City. The event included a skit in which a mock Israeli soldier was shown begging for freedom. (Khalil Hamra/ Associated Press)

GAZA CITY - Gaza's militant Hamas rulers marshaled tens of thousands of supporters to a huge anniversary rally yesterday, a show of muscle that included a skit of a mock-captive Israeli soldier begging for his freedom.

Marking 21 years since its founding, a triumphant Hamas boasted about its violent exploits, promised more money to Gaza's impoverished people, and announced that it would soon stop recognizing the legitimacy of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who rules only the West Bank now.

Organizers of the rally said about 300,000 Hamas supporters crowded into a dusty outdoor arena and nearby streets. Many waved flags and sported baseball caps in the Islamic group's signature green color.

In the skit, Hamas paraded a Palestinian speaking Hebrew and dressed in an Israeli soldier's uniform - a reference to Sergeant Gilad Schalit, captured by Hamas-allied militants in June 2006.

"I miss my Mom and Dad," said the man playing the Israeli soldier, kneeling as he spoke. "Tell [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert, why don't you take care of your soldier?"

The capture of Schalit in a June 2006 cross-border raid is an open wound in Israeli society. The taunt at the rally drew condemnation from Israel, which has been indirectly negotiating the soldier's release with Hamas for 2 1/2 years.

A spokesman for the Israeli government, Mark Regev, called the skit "another example of [Hamas] cruelty and inhumanity."

In comments aired yesterday, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said a six-month truce with Israel would not be renewed after it expires this week. Interviewed on a Hamas-affiliated Lebanese TV channel, Mashaal did not explicitly threaten renewed attacks, saying instead that Hamas would respond to developments.

Hamas leaders in Gaza yesterday left open the possibility that the truce might be renewed, according to other news reports.

Yesterday, Israel closed its passenger crossing with Gaza to journalists in response to Palestinian rocket fire over the weekend.

For much of the past month, Israel has banned reporters from entering the territory after militants fired rockets and mortars at Israeli communities.

Hamas, founded in Gaza in December 1987, is sworn to Israel's destruction and was involved in dozens of suicide bombings that killed more than 250 Israelis. It seized Gaza by force in June 2007 after months of fighting with Abbas's Fatah forces.

Hamas contends that Abbas's term will end Jan. 8, four years after he was elected president. Abbas maintains that he has an additional year, so the presidential term would dovetail with parliament's.

The huge turnout at the Gaza rally was a pointed display of strength directed at both Israel and Fatah, and further evidence of the Muslim militant group's control over 1.4 million Gazans.

During an hourlong speech, the Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, read out a list of construction projects and funds to be distributed to impoverished Gaza residents.

The projects indicate that Hamas is still able to smuggle cash through tunnels that crisscross the territory's border with Egypt - at a time when the Western-backed Abbas government in the West Bank has struggled to pay salaries.

Hamas also bragged of attacks conducted against Israel in the past 21 years, inflating the numbers.

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," he said.

The United States and other Western countries designate Hamas as a terror organization. In a preelection speech to a Jewish group, President-elect Barack Obama said he also considers Hamas a terrorist group.

Also yesterday, Israel said a delayed release of 227 Palestinian prisoners would take place today. The release is a goodwill gesture to Abbas's government.

The prisoners were to be released last week for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.