10 May 2009

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas Movement, on Saturday asserted that its acquisition of Grad missiles had led to an important qualitative leap in the resistance's ability to deter the "Zionist enemy".

Abu Obaida, the armed wing's spokesman, said in a press release that all Israeli intelligence reports put the Qassam's range of missiles at 25 kilometers at the most but "they (Israelis) were surprised that they (missiles) surpassed that limit".

He said that the missiles enabled resistance to retaliate to the "Zionist enemy's crimes".

The spokesman expressed conviction that Israel was adamant on waging a war on Gaza with the aim of eliminating resistance and toppling Hamas because its presence ran contrary to the capitulation project, which the "Americans and Zionists are trying to impose on the region".

"Our options were either to resist using all means available or to surrender and beg the East and West after declaring defeat, and the second option was completely rejected," Abu Obaida concluded.

Hamas won't accept the quartet’s terms even if this will end the rift

Mohamed Nazzal, a member of the Hamas political bureau, on Friday stated that his Movement would never agree to recognize Israel and the international quartet’s terms even if such conditions were the only way for the Palestinian reconciliation.

In a rally organized in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria, Nazzal stressed that the conditions set by international parties mainly represented in recognizing the quartet’s terms in exchange for dealing with Hamas, ending the siege and reconstructing Gaza are cheap and dishonest extortion.

The senior Hamas official pointed out that US secretary of state Hillary Clinton reiterated during her last meeting with the Egyptian head of intelligence Omar Suleiman that any Palestinian government to be formed must agree to the quartet’s terms especially the recognition of Israel.

He expressed shock and dismay at some Arab and Palestinian parties for urging Hamas leaders to accept the quartet’s terms or at least to recognize Israel, noting that PA official Ahmed Qurei had said once in the presence of representatives of Palestinian factions that Hamas has no choice but to announce outright its recognition of Israel.

The Hamas official castigated those parties for asking his Movement to accept the previous agreements signed by the PLO with Israel while Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his foreign minister make statements undermining the foundations upon which all the agreements with the PLO were signed.

The official warned of the "Jewish" state vision which was clearly emphasized by Netanyahu and his foreign minister, saying that such a vision poses a real danger for the Arabs living in the Palestinian lands occupied in 1948 and is aimed to expel the indigenous residents and not allow the refugees to return to their homes.

He finally underlined that the Zionist government and the visions it adopts are racist and criminal and thus must prompt Arabs and Muslims to confront it rather than bow to it.