Hamas vows to keep weapons after Israel Gaza pullout
AFP
Date: 08-20-05
GAZA CITY (AFP) - The armed wing of Hamas reiterated it would not disarm after the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip, saying it would "not rest" until Israel has left all parts of the occupied territories.
"The arms of the resistance are legitimate and honourable weapons of the Palestinian people," the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said Saturday.
"They are the sole guarantee of defeating the occupation and the safeguard against its aggressions against Palestinians.
"We will maintain and develop our armaments because the resistance of the enemy is long."
The movement, which has been behind the majority of anti-Israeli attacks during the five-year Palestinian uprising, said that it would respond to any move by Israel to re-enter Gaza.
"We will meet any aggression or violation against the liberated areas with force," said the statement in English. "And we reiterate that the presence of any soldier or settler on the liberated lands or the border crossings will be met with resistance."
Hamas is currently observing a less than watertight truce agreement but the statement pledged to "develop the resistance."
"We will do our best to support and develop the resistance in the occupied areas and to defend our brethren till the defeat of the occupation from all our land," the statement said. "We will not rest until the land is free and the refugees have returned to their land."
In a separate statement to mark the anniversary of a 1969 arson attack on Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, Hamas pledged to continue its campaign until Jerusalem had been won back.
"Our happiness will not be complete until occupation has left all of the West Bank and Jerusalem," it said.
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