Hamas says ready to establish independent state if Israel ends occupation_English

GAZA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Saturday that it will be ready to establish a Palestinian state if Israel completely ends its occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.

Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told the Qatari al-Jazeera satellite TV channel that his movement "is representing a majority among the Palestinians" and it should rule the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Saturday that it will be ready to establish a Palestinian state if Israel completely ends its occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.

Palestinians burn an Israeli flag during a rally organized by the Hamas movement in Gaza in solidarity with al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, November 16, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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Hamas movement has unseated former ruling President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement in the legislative elections held in the Palestinian territories in late January last year.

It formed a first ever government, controlled the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and formed a security force in Gaza called the executive force, which was later called the police.

In mid June, the movement armed wing al-Qassam Brigades and the executive force took control of the Gaza Strip following a week of fierce armed clashes with President Abbas' security forces and his Fatah movement's militias.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Saturday that it will be ready to establish a Palestinian state if Israel completely ends its occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas ,seen here in Jakarta in October 2007, called on the people of the Gaza Strip to topple the Islamist Hamas movement that seized power there in June from his secular Fatah group. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
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Asked if Hamas has to apologize to President Abbas for taking control of Gaza by force, al-Zahar said: "Who should apologize to whom. We are a majority and we should dominate the West Bank, currently controlled by illegal leadership."

Abbas in return, sacked Hamas-led national unity government and formed a new caretaker government based in Ramallah. But Hamas has rejected the Abbas decree and insisted they are still legal.

Al-Zahar also expressed "pessimism" towards a U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the conference "will fail in ending the conflict and finding a fair solution to the questions of the Palestinian refugees' right of return and Jerusalem."

"We don't hold any Palestinian side responsible for annulling the right of return or wasting the question of Jerusalem. Palestine will be liberated and Islam will be the civilized power that would antagonize injustice," he said.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Saturday that it will be ready to establish a Palestinian state if Israel completely ends its occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.

Palestinians attend a rally organised by the Hamas movement in Gaza, in solidarity with al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, November 16, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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