Hamas marks 30-year anniversary with Gaza City rally

By Yasser al-Banna

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas held a rally in Gaza City on Thursday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its establishment.

Held in the city’s Al-Katiba Square, the event was attended by thousands of the group’s members and supporters

In a speech delivered to the group’s supporters, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh condemned last week’s decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

"Hamas hopes to force Washington to reverse this decision and to drop its plans for a so-called ‘deal of the century’," he said.

The term “deal of the century” refers to a regional peace plan that the U.S. administration is expected to begin promoting early next year with a view to resolving the decades-long Palestine-Israel conflict.

"Trump's decision [to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital] is no less dangerous than the [1917] Balfour Declaration,” he added.

Haniyeh also urged the Palestinian people and Arab and Muslim nations to continue their “uprising” in support of Jerusalem “with a view to thwarting the recent U.S. decision”.

He also called on Palestinian political factions to "agree on a unified national strategy to support the ongoing uprising against the Israeli occupation”.

Since Trump's controversial announcement last Wednesday, most Palestinian cities -- along with many Arab and Muslim capitals -- have seen angry demonstrations against the dramatic U.S. policy shift.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

Haniyeh went on to say that Hamas had begun building "solid alliances” in the region with a view to confronting “U.S.-Zionist” plans for the Middle East.

"We will continue building regional partnerships at the regional and national levels with a view to thwarting the so-called ‘deal of the century’,” he asserted.

Hamas recently announced it had restored relations with both Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group through visits by senior Hamas officials to Tehran and Beirut.

Haniyeh also reiterated Hamas’s commitment to reconciling with rival Palestinian faction Fatah.

"The achievement of internal unity and reconciliation demands the implementation of understandings reached during the Cairo talks," he said.

In October, Hamas and Fatah signed a landmark reconciliation agreement in Cairo aimed at healing a decade of bitter political division.

Hamas was founded on Dec. 14, 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin -- who was assassinated by Israel seven years later -- and leaders of Palestine's Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is considered an ideological offshoot.