Tens of thousands of Palestinians, many waving green flags or wearing green headbands, filled a central Gaza City square Saturday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Islamist Hamas movement. The square was decorated with a huge stage, showcasing a model of an M-75 rocket, the kind which Hamas said it manufactured and fired at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in last month's fighting with Israel.
Khaled Mashaal, the exiled Hamas leader, currently on an emotional first-ever visit to the salient, stepped out of the rocket, together with Hamas Gaza leader Ismail Haniya, to the cheers and applause of the crowd. Mashaal is originally from the West Bank and has been based in recent years in Syria and Qatar.
Although December 14 is the actual date of Hamas' founding, the movement is celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend. The Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement has ruled the Gaza Strip since June 2007. Hamas does not recognise Israel, and wants an Islamic state in all of historic Palestine from the Mediterranean sea to the Jordan river. The movement is under Western and US diplomatic boycott for its refusal to neither renounce violence, honour past Israel-Palestinian agreements nor accept the Jewish state's right to exist.