Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas-led government sacked by President Mahmoud Abbas, vowed on Sunday that isolation will not force the Islamist group to give up power from its Gaza stronghold.
Haniyeh accused Abbas, the Fatah leader, of violating Palestinian law by dismissing his government and then appointing an emergency administration in the occupied West Bank after Hamas routed Abbas's forces and seized control of Gaza.
In his first major speech since Hamas's take-over just over a week ago, Haniyeh said Abbas's actions have resulted in the separation of Hamas-ruled Gaza from a Fatah-dominated West Bank. Rather than weaken Hamas, Haniyeh said, "experience proves that the more pressure on Hamas and the greater the siege will only increase Hamas's strength".
The Hamas leader dismissed Israel's decision to release Palestinian tax funds to Abbas as "bribery". He said "resistance" against Israel was the only way forward for the Palestinians, brushing aside Abbas's push for renewed peace talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Haniyeh accused the United States of providing Abbas's Fatah forces with money and arms in order to "oust Hamas or push it to make political concessions", suggesting Hamas's violent take-over of the Gaza Strip earlier this month was defensive.
"The arms and money (for Fatah) showed that things were going towards a pre-planned explosion," Haniyeh said. Fatah countered that Hamas accepts arms and money from Iran. Haniyeh denied any Iranian role. "We are not under the influence of anyone," he said.
The United States and Israel want to isolate Hamas economically, diplomatically and militarily in its Gaza stronghold, while allowing funds and goods to flow to Abbas's emergency government.
"America will not give us anything. The occupation (Israel) will not give us anything. Our rights and lands will only return to us by steadfastness and resistance," Haniyeh said.