Hamas Leader: We Won't Stop

The comments were made by Khaled Mash'al, who is head of the political office of Hamas in an interview on al-Jazeera.

GAZA (Religious Intelligencer) - A key Hamas official has declared in a TV interview that resistance to Israel will continue until it achieves victory.

The comments were made by Khaled Mash'al, who is head of the political office of Hamas in an interview on al-Jazeera, who added that so far Israel has failed to achieve any of its objectives in Gaza.

He said: "War in Gaza has not been aimed merely at destroying the legitimate Hamas Government, but aimed at annihilation of the entire Palestinian nation and urging them to yield to a wretched solution."

He went on to call for an immediate ceasefire from Israel, and end to the siege of Gaza and the immediate re-opening of border crossings.

There would be no talks with Israel while their current military action was ongoing, he said.

In a chilling message to Israel, he said that Hamas would never yield to a permanent truce treaty.

"The resistance forces would disregard any solution that would disregard the right to resist against occupation, or the solutions that would include the need for our disarmament, since the weapons of the resistance force are at the service of defending the Palestinian nation."

However, in a significant gesture he called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to consider the establishment of a joint management comprised of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Egyptian and European officers to manage the Rafah Passage affairs.

Mash'al asked the Arab countries to hold an urgently summit and asked the Palestinians to extend and establish their third Intifada throughout the occupied lands.

He said: "Which nation has ever achieved a precious victory in the course of its history against occupation without brave resistance and dedication of pure blood of its martyrs?"

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This article first appeared in the Religious Intelligencer and is used with permission.