WarSclerotic

Some 300,000 Palestinians gathered in ‎Gaza City on Sunday ‎for a rally marking the 31st anniversary ‎of the ‎establishment of Hamas, the terrorist group that ‎rules the Gaza Strip. ‎

Hamas fighters in military fatigues paraded with ‎‎rockets and heavy machine guns during Sunday’s rally. ‎‎The group said the large turnout reflects ‎Hamas’ broad ‎support, despite domestic and external ‎challenges.‎

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh spoke at the rally and ‎praised a series ‎of recent terrorist attacks against ‎Israelis in the West Bank, ‎which is controlled by the ‎Palestinian Authority, Hamas’ archrival. ‎

He called these attacks, in which a number of Israelis were murdered, “a response to the Israeli occupation” and to the ‎‎anticipated American peace proposal, which ‎‎Palestinians fear will favor Israel.‎ ‎

Haniyeh also addressed the botched Nov. 11 Israeli ‎operation in southern Gaza, in which an elite IDF ‎officer was killed, saying Hamas has been able to ‎get its hands on “a treasure trove of technological ‎information that sheds light on the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza.”

‎”We know everything about the occupation army’s ‎operations, including every move its special forces ‎made in Khan Yunis,” he said, referring to the ‎location of the deadly clash. ‎

According to Haniyeh, this information includes the ‎exact time, place and duration of the ‎Israeli forces’ operation in Gaza, as well as ‎information about their tactics and the weapons and ‎technology they used. ‎

The Hamas leader also mocked ‎former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who once publicly ‎declared he would eliminate Haniyeh within 48 hours ‎of becoming defense minister. Lieberman served as defense minister for two and a half years before resigning recently in protest of the government’s policy on Hamas.

“The menacing ‎Lieberman, who threatened Gaza and Beirut, has ‎fallen because of the resistance’s determination. ‎Hamas is celebrating 31 years as ‎Lieberman sits at home. Neither he nor [Prime ‎Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu have a home on our ‎land,”‎ Haniyeh said.

He also called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud ‎Abbas to meet in Gaza or Cairo to end the longtime internal Palestinian conflict, which erupted when Hamas usurped control of Gaza from Abbas’ Fatah-led government in 2007 in a military coup.